


And There He Was

by LittleChestnutCafe



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Childhood, Childhood Friends, Childhood Memories, Happy Ending, M/M, i guess
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-23
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-11-17 14:18:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11277024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleChestnutCafe/pseuds/LittleChestnutCafe
Summary: Shiro was gone. He was the only one Keith let inside his bubble, and he disappeared without a trace. Alone, lost, and with nowhere to go, Keith isolated himself. Suddenly, right before his eyes, a hard punch from a certain blue paladin was all it took. With that, Keith starts to recollect shards of his memories he can't recall.





	1. Chapter 1

 

The air was stagnant, and the room dim from the moonless night. Keith was laying on his bed, fist clenched in the air. The air around him began to stir. His brother at arms, Shiro, was now gone and Keith didn’t have a clue as to how he could get him back. Keith had isolated himself in his room for the past couple of days, thoughts of Shiro circulating throughout his mind. Tears welled in his eyes, he wanted to disappear. A sudden knock on his door made Keith jump. Hunk cautiously walked in as Keith sat up on his bed.

“Hey” Hunk blurted out.

“Hey” Keith looked at Hunk, questioning his sudden arrival.

An awkward silence looms over them. Keith noticed Hunk was holding a pot. The smell coming out was delightful, as always. Hunk broke the silence.

“I made this for you.” Hunk looked briefly at the pot and then darted his eyes back onto Keith. “I know you have been feeling down for couple of days… ”

“No shit.” Keith snapped. Hunk jumped back, and almost tripped on the doorway, but luckily recovered just in time.

 _God damn it why did I yell at him._ Keith thought to himself. “I'm Sorry, didn't mean to snap at you”

“No, it's okay, I understand… I’ll just leave this here for whenever you get hungry. Make sure you eat, ok?” Hunk said softly, trying to comfort him. He walked over to the red paladin.

“Yeah? Thank.” Keith tried to give a smile.

“You know, when I was down, my mam would tell me it's okay to cry and that showing weakness is a sign of strength.” Hunk patted Keith’s shoulder. “Remember that we are here for you ok?”

Keith looked at Hunk and gave a smile. “Yeah, thanks man but I think I'm fine alone.”

“I see but the offer is still up. Allura needs my help but I'll see you around.”

Hunk left the room, giving Keith a sad look. Keith turned to his side and pulled out his galra knife, looking into the deep purple hue. He brushed his finger on the symbol. Outside of his room, Keith heard someone talking.

“Dude, were you able to cheer him up?” said the snarky voice.

Keith’s train of thought was disrupted. _Ugh, It's Lance’s voice, how annoying…_

“No, I don't know,  how am I supposed to know”, Hunk replied. “He wasn't feeling up to it and I can't pressure him into doing so. Pidge you go talk to him.”

“What?! Me!?” Pidge cried.

“Yeah, you always have a way of knocking people back into reality.” Lance stated.

“That's true,” Hunk followed. “Come on, you can do it!”

“But?! Hmm I guess I can try… ” Pidge answered defeatedly.

“Yeah! That’s the spirit Pidge!” Lance pushed Pidge to the door.

“Gah?!”

Keith heard a slam on his door. He sat up from his bed and ruffles his hair.

“You can come in”

“Hey there…  Keith, how you doing buddy?” Pidge entered Keith's room and awkwardly leaned on the door frame.

“Fine, just peachy you know with Shiro’s disappearance and all.”

_Way to be a sarcastic, Keith._

“Ugh, why do I have to deal with this emo!” Pidge muttered. She looked out at the door and motioning help from her teammates.

“What was that?” Keith scoffed.

“N..Nothing,” Pidge turned her attention back to Keith, trying to change the subject “Hey it’s only logical that we get Shiro back, it’s not like he magically disappeared.”

“I guess..” Keith rubbed his front bangs, disinterested in the conversation.

“You know I lost my family too, I understand what you’re going through right now, and we will get them back, Shiro too” Pidge said, trying her best to cheer up Keith. “You can talk to me anytime.”

“...”

Pidge started to feel awkward. She couldn't hold the conversation anymore. Sweat started to break from her forehead. Her legs were turned to the door. Keith’s gaze made Pidge feel heavy like gravity was pushing her down more than usual.

“Well er…  good talk man! I see you tomorrow” Pidge stuttered loudly.

“Uhh okay see-” Keith tried to say but Pidge had already left the room. Keith stared again at his Galra knife, reminiscing the last battle he fought alongside Shiro.

 _Shiro, you've always been so strong, there’s no way I’ll be able to continue to lead Voltron  like you said_.

Keith put his knife on the side and stared at the ceiling. Whispers through the walls broke Keith from his thought again..

“So were you able to get him to talk?” Lance shook Pidge.

“..no..” Pidge sighed. “I understand your pain now Hunk.”

“Thank you,” Hunk sighed. “Well we clearly can't do anything, so Lance it's up to you.” Hunk pat Lance’s shoulder.

“You can do this buddy.” Pidge enthusiastically gave Lance a thumbs up.

“What?! You guys are just passing the responsibility to me! Allura said we should do things as a team.” Lance yelled.

“No, Hunk and I are just going to take a slight break.” Pidge smirked, “Plus, you said before that Keith is -”

“Shud up, that was a long time ago, fine I'll go talk to him…  or at least try to.” Lance quickly interrupted.

“Yay, team effort. Try to comfort Keith it your own way.” Hunk cheered.

“See ya Lance!” Pidge cheered along with Hunk.

Pidge and Hunk bolted to the kitchen, leaving Lance alone. Lance sighed and lightly banged his head on Keith’s door. Mentally preparing himself, he walked into the edge lord's room. Keith stood up and glared at Lance.

“What are you doing?” Keith clenched his hand.

“I'm here to have a talk with you. Pidge and Hunk might of failed but I'll get you to listen” Lance rolled his shoulder and walked over to Keith. “And to get you to listen, I have to speak your language, clench your teeth.”

“Wha-”

A punch came flying out of Lance, hitting Keith right on the cheek. The stinging pain pulsed through Keith, making him feel woozy. The red paladin give a dead stare at Lance.

“What the hell!” Keith gritted his teeth.

“Listen Keith, everyone has been down ever since Shiro disappeared. And I didn’t know Shiro that well, but I know he wouldn't want this from you.” Lance hesitated to continue as he clenched his fist. “He trusted you the most, I hate to admit it but it's true. Are you just scared?!”

“Shut up, you do you know about anything!” Keith grabbed Lance’s jacket collar, raising his fist.  “Tell me one good reason why I shouldn't break your face right now.”

“It just proves that you haven't changed at all, and that you don't deserve to lead us.” Lance arrogantly smiled. “I can at least say this. Shiro won't want to see you at this pitiful state.” Lance pushed Keith's arm off his jacket and walked out of the room.

“Argh!” Keith punched the wall, immediately regretting it after. “Fuck”

Boiling with rage, Keith wrapped himself in his blanket and tried to sleep and forget Lance’s words, but he couldn't. Lance’s words lingers in his mind, and the bruise on his cheeks stings whenever he thought about it. After rolling around for too long, Keith gave up on sleeping and replayed the scene when Lance punched him. _I should have come up with a good comeback._ Annoyed and confused at what he should do, Keith got up from his bed. _I can't even sleep, I should go walk around a bit and clear my head, maybe raid the fridge for some snacks._

Keith made his way to the balcony of the castle and put his hand on the cold railings. He looked at the beautiful night sky. _The stars….they look really nice tonight,_ Keith thought to himself. In the corner of his eye, he saw Lance sitting on the floor with a book in his hand, gazing at the stars. Their eyes made contact and Lance sneered at him.

“Hey, you! Stay five feet away from me and I'll leave you alone.” Lance turned his head away from Keith.

“Sounds good to me.” Keith groaned, desperately holding back his desire to punch Lance.

Thirty minutes passed and then another. Both paladins were sitting and staring at the stars. Watching the stars, Lance started sketching the stars while looking out for constellations of Altea. Lance began writing down notes and notice Keith, not so subtlety, watching him. Making eye contact, Keith failed to look away quick enough and awkwardness fill him up. Keith swiftly got up to leave when Lance broke the silence.

“Hey I'm sorry for punching you in the face and yelling at you.” Lance muttered.

“Huh?” Keith said in confusion. _Lance is apologizing?_

“Don't look so confused,” Lance analyzed Keith’s face “I was acting out of line and I shouldn't have attacked you, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, you shouldn't have but it’s alright… truth be told, maybe you were right. I am scared.” Keith sat down next to Lance, focusing on the blue paladin.

“Haha, glad to know I made you think for once”

“Yeah gee thanks man... but because of you I can't sleep.”

“You’re welcome!” Lance winked and motioned finger guns at Keith. “Well if you can't sleep, you wanna go on a run with me? I mean we are parked back on Altea to hide so might as well have some fun.”

“A run? With you?” Keith raised his eyebrow.

“Yeah, not like you have anything better to do, I'm doing a favor so that you don't get bored. Are you scared I'll beat you in a race?” Lance smiled mockingly.

“Hell no, you're on”

“Haha, alright”

The boys went off the castle and into the fields. The wild juniberries had started blooming, showing off their petals and covering the field in a beautiful magenta color as the gentle night breeze blow. Lance and Keith jogged around, carefully avoiding the flowers. Keith ran ahead of Lance toward a large group of juniberries.

“I thought you said you were going to beat me in a race.” Keith said arrogantly.

“Shud up, I'm a swimmer not a runner, it's not like I can swim on land” Lance said, flailing his arms. “Fight me in the ocean”

“I'd still kick your ass”

“Yeah sure, do you even know how to swim!”

Keith chuckled and ignored Lance. Lance eventually caught up to Keith and the blue paladin was panting and coughing from the long jog. Lance fell down on the ground in defeat and Keith suggested it was time for a break. Sitting down, the paladins were able to get a better glimpse of Altea with the stars shining luminnantly. Displaying its beauty, the juniberries fluttered with the wind, leaving both paladins lost in thought.

“Allura was right, those flowers sure are beautiful, juniberry I believe they are called” Keith whispered  softly, as if not to disturb the flower field.

“Yeah they are” Lance replied. He turned his head and rested it on one of his knee and watched the red paladin observe the flowers in front of them.

“It’s amazing how these flowers were able to bloom despite their circumstances, they were able to spread this much on harsh ground, and with only the support of the local Alteans at that. In a way they kind of gives me a strange sense of hope.” Keith smiled to himself and looked at the ground. “I have a question for you Lance. How come you treat me differently from everyone else even though I'm a Galra? I mean you even had the balls to punch me in the face”

“Well that's simple question.” Lance grinned.

“Wha?!” Keith’s jaw dropped, baffled by Lance. “But Allura kind of hates me and Pidge and Hunk don't know how to confront me anymore. They all look at me like they’re scared of me.”

A chuckle escaped from Lance.

“To be honest I don't care. You're a good person, and an amazing pilot too, to be honest I'm jealous of your sheer talent.” Lance smiled and feeling relieved. “You just gotta work on that attitude man, with that look on your face no one wants to talk to you. And also that punch was because I wanted to”

“Jealous? And hey I don’t have an attitude problem.” Keith rubbed his hair.

“Hey it hurts me to admit that I'm jealous of you! But it made me try harder. To be a better pilot and paladin.” Lance laughed and turned to Keith. “Regarding to Hunk and Pidge, they are awkward so just talk to them, they don't mind. But as for Allura, give her time, she already apologized no?.” Lance smiled warmly at Keith. “Don't worry, things will work out for the better”

“I see...” Keith smiled in relief. “You know, you're actually a cool person behind that cocky smile.”

“What's that suppose to mean?” Lance playfully hit Keith.

“Nothing...Thank you for being with me tonight ” Keith quietly chuckled and looked at the dark sky. The clouds began to cover the sky and the stars disappeared. “Hey it's getting late, let's go back”

“Yeah sure, let's go” Lance grinned.

Heading back, the breeze blow down, scattering the juniberries petals. The refreshing scent of the flowers relaxed Keith somewhat. The red paladin felt himself calming down. He felt free just running under the mysterious, night sky, lost in his thought. After a few minutes of running, Keith suddenly realized that Lance disappeared.

“Lance?” Keith said as he turned around. Keith scanned the area and no one was there. The juniberry petals flutters in the wind, covering the air around. Lance was nowhere to be found.

“Lance!” Keith panicked and hovered his hand over his knife. Keith began running back to where the paladins were when all of a sudden a cool breeze hit directly the back of Keith’s ear. Keith jumped and landed on his face. Keith cupped his ear and rolled on the ground to see his attacker's face. Looking down on him was Lance and the next thing Keith could hear was Lance’s laughter.

“What the-!?” Keith yelped.

“Haha, you are still the same as ever” Lance laughed. The Cuban reached one of his arm out and Keith grabbed on and got up.

“What's that suppose to mean? And where did you even go?”

“Don't worry about it” Lance smiled. Keith shot a glare and saw Lance had a bouquet of juniberries in his hands. Keith was confused but disregard Lance. They both ran back together with a comfortable silence. Making their way back to the entrance, Lance faced the red paladin.

“Well I'm gonna go to sleep now, maybe check up on Kaltenecker. You know feed him some of these juniberries. How about you? ” Lance yawned.

“I might stay up a bit and do my own thing” Keith said.

“Huh, okay don't try to leave Voltron again” Lance grinned sleepily. Keith rolled his eyes. Walking back to his room, Keith slammed himself onto his bed, letting the cushion absorb his force while looking at his blue lion plush. _I've always had this toy for as long as I can remember. I wonder why it comforts me._ He rolled on his bed, never finding a comfortable position and gave up. _Time to pull an all-nighter again._ With his eyes drooping, Keith scratched his head and wrapped his blanket around his body and traveled down the halls. Bored out of his mind, Keith went to the kitchen to raid the fridge, craving for some food. On the way to the kitchen, a sudden roar surged through Keith’s head. _Red, what the hell is she calling me for? Did something happen!?_ Keith dashed to the hanger. Panting and out of breath, Keith made his way to the lion's pent. He saw the black lion. Her eyes were blackout, staring at him as if disappointed at Keith. The red paladin shifted his eyes away, the guilty feeling sticking on to him. Keith walked up to the red lion, _Thank god you’re fine._ The red paladin decide to hang around with his lion and went inside of the mechanical beast, plopping himself onto the seat. Making himself comfortable, he wrapped his duvet around himself.

“Hey Red, you mind if I stay in here for the night?” Keith asked. Keith heard a faint roar inside his head, a sign of approval from the red lion.  

“Thanks girl” Keith sighed. Keith rested his head on his chair and crossed his arms. The paladin closed his eyes. _Shiro,_ Keith thought to himself, _how can I get you back, I need you.. patience yields focus._

“Patience yields focus.” Shiro called out.

“Shiro?!?!”

The red paladin opened his eyes and saw that he was in a purple universe. There were stars shining through the lavender scenery with an endless destination. _What the hell is this place, is it some kind of metaverse?_ Keith turned his head and saw the black lion. The black lion roared, signaling Keith to come over. Keith ran over and the black lion crouched down to his to his eye level, staring directly into Keith’s eyes. The boy stepped closer and rested his head onto the black lion's. Tears finally escaped from Keith’s eyes.

“I promise I'll get him back for you” Keith cried. The black lion lifted his head away from Keith and spread it's wings and flew through the stars. Keith’s teary eyes followed the lions. A little boy, much like him, followed the black lion. _Who is that?_

“Hey wait-” Keith cried. A bright light hit Keith and the paladin covered his face. Keith opened his eyes. He looked around and saw he was in a room with a bunch of kids. _Where am I,_ Keith thought. He tried to move around but he was stuck in front of the class.   _What is this familiar feeling? Have I been here before?_

“Class please welcome our new friend, Keith, please introduce yourself ” said the short, dark haired woman. The room filled with children, decorated with motivational posters and cabinets full of backpacks and  Keith could feel himself beginning to speak when the class interrupted him.

“He's cute” said the girls.

“He looks cool” said a group of kids.

“I don't think he's friendly” stated one kid in the back.

 _Wait I know this place_ , _this was my elementary school? But why am I here? Is this a shard of my missing memories?_

“Um hi...the name’s Keith” Keith said, disregarding the kids comment on him.

“How awkward” said a girl.

“Be quiet class, it’s not good to be mean” said the teacher. “Keith, your seat will be next to…” The teacher scanned the room and saw an empty space next to him. She sighed.

“Keith you can go sit next to that kid.” she said. Keith looked around and saw one boy was particularly staring at him intently.

“Yo Teach, I got a name you know” shouted the annoying boy. “Plus the seat is already taken… by my feet.”

“Ugh, Keith go sit next to him, and I need to see you after class mister”

He walked over and sat down. Keith looked over at his seatmate, his neighbor was tanned, skinny, chestnut colored hair, and wore a blue and white striped shirt. He didn't bother to look at anymore details of his seatmate. Keith knew he would forget about him and just wanted divert attention from himself.

“Hey I'm your beautiful, cuban classmate hope we get along” Keith’s neighbor said casually.

“Oh..ha ha...yea..nice to meet you too” Keith quietly muttered, trying his best to ignore his annoying neighbor.

The teacher was starting her lecture when Keith saw his neighbor was playing with his own notebook, trying to make it stand up. The notebook finally stood and the boy quietly cheered to himself, as he noticed Keith was looking at him in confusion. Keith was trying to make out the boy’s eyes color. _Who was this? Why are his eyes desaturated?_

“Hey new kid don’t tell on me” the boy giggled quietly.

“Hey you shouldn’t be do that” a boy whispered from behind. This boy was particularly larger and was darker than his neighbor, he wore a bright yellow t-shirt and had brown hair. Keith caught a glimpse of the boy behind him and noticed he also couldn’t see his eye color very well either. _What the hell is going on._

“Oh hi new kid, I hope we can become friends” the larger boy whispered quietly and turn to the annoying boy. “Seriously you’re gonna get caught again.”

“Who cares, it’s not like she can do anything else to me” grinned the tanned boy as he turned to Keith.

“So, new kid, this can be a secret betweefrie” he winked at Keith. The boy put his arms on the table and rested his head. Keith listened to the teacher’s boring lecture, every second feels like an hour. _Ugh can this go any slower?_

“Now class, since it seems like of you all have been paying attention, let me test one of you…troublemaker.” The teacher's piercing voice made Keith’s seatmate jump and destroy his set up.

“Uhh yes Teach?” he replied  nervously.

“Since you have been paying so much attention to me, What is the original meaning of talent” the teacher said with a smirk.

“Wha?!..” The tanned boy looked around nervously. _How do I get out of this.._ He thought to himself.

“ C’mon hurry now” sneered the teacher. “or do you not know the answers?”

“Of..of course I know the answer..talent right? Ahh the word talent, such a complex word that describes so many things, no wonder we’re learning about it” The boy started answering, he sounded surprisingly confident with himself. “I love that word, you know that? I absolutely love it. It is a word like no other, there are no words that starts with T and end with T that sounds like it”

 _What is this kid on about?_ Keith questioned, holding in his laughter.

“Talent… is.. A gift.” the boy kept going. “Or is it? What if talent just ties to your action? What if talent is determined by a person’s wealth? You don’t know that. Is it perhaps a gift from god? Or maybe it is the result from a contract with some mysterious man with a long nose. What if the teacher is the mysterious man with the long nose.”

The class all laughed.

“Wait... what? I just want the answer please..”scowled the teacher “I would like to move on.”

 _This kid have no idea what he’s talking about does he_ . Keith pitied the boy and quickly wrote some stuff down on a piece of paper. _What a weird kid._ Keith couldn't help but smile.

“Psst”, whispered Keith to his neighbor, “here”

“Um the answer is…currency..?”

“Wow, I didn't expect you to know that ,a point for you!” the teacher cheered, “Good job. Talent was used as a term for the sum of currency back in the days.”

“Thank you..” The boy sat on his seat and angrily crossed his arms.

“Hmph, I could have found that out myself anyway,” the tanned boy complaint quietly “I didn’t need your help.” Keith didn't hear what his neighbor said and listened to the lecture.

“Woah, did you see that? Keith totally gave him the answer, maybe we should ask for his notes” whispered a group of boys.

“Hey he just got ten times cooler” the girls giggled.

The bell rang and every student rushed out. Keith stayed behind to grab his books and overheard two people talking. _What’s going on_ Keith wondered, he peeked over his table and tried to listen in.

“You know you shouldn’t be hitting others, your behavior isn’t good too.”The teacher frowned.  Keith’s desk mate didn’t say anything and only looked down on his feet and fidgeted with his shirt.

“At this rate, I’ll have to contact your parents again. Do you want that?” scolded the teacher. “Please, Lance, I know you're not a bad kid so tell me?”

“... They made fun of Hunk first” his neighbor silently replied.

“What?”

“Nothing, I won't do it again” The boy dashed out and the teacher sighed and returned to her stack of papers.With the teacher stressed, Keith snuck out undetected. He made his way to the library and found an isolated corner to himself, pulled out his books and started reading. All of a sudden two boys came in and disturb the peacefulness of the library.

“That Keith kid totally one-up me” cried a familiar voice. “I knew the answer , he didn't have to show that he was a smart big deal”

“Hey shh, the librarian is going to yell at us again” said another voice. “But, really dude? I doubt you knew the answer..”

“Yeah whatever, I'll show Keith who's better next time”

“You do you, anyways I'm going to read. You want to come?”

“Nah, I don’t wanna look at boring astronaut and pilot things, I'll pass. I'll be around the corner if you need me.”

Keith heard footsteps coming closer to him and saw his Cuban classmate sit next to bookshelf besides Keith. In the corner of his eye, the tanned boy was looking at a swimming competition on his phone. The swimming had captivated Keith and he tried to lean forward to watch more when suddenly gravity turned against him and he fell in front of his classmate. His neighbor gave him a strange look, making Keith want to escape from  reality. Keith picked up his book and wanted to leave when a voice called out to him.

“You can watch with me, just stay five inches away from me” whispered the boy.

“Thank you” Keith responded. Keith was drawn into the match. He leaned in, trying to  observe the intense match. His shoulder and his classmate touched. The swimmers were neck and neck, thrashing through the water when McClain came victorious.

“YES!! McClain won again” the tanned boy cheered quietly as he drummed the floor with his feet. Keith observed the boy's face, his eye shine brighter than the stars, cheeks became rosy from excitement and a smile that was a beautiful curve. Looking at the boy, Keith couldn't take his eyes off of him.

“Oh sorry, I couldn't help but cheer” the Cuban cover his mouth.

“Don't worry about it” Keith smiled back. The Cuban gave a toothy grin but suddenly jumped away from Keith.

“Okay but this doesn't mean I like you, us hanging out.”

“Since when did you hate me?”

“Dude since you gave the answer at class today.”

“Uhh, okay, I thought I was helping you out.”

“No, you one-up me from now on we are rivals.”

“Uhh, I don't even know your nam-”

The bell rang, abruptly cutting Keith off. The Cuban picked himself up and helped Keith up.

“I'll see ya in class” the tanned boy crossed his arms and ran to meet up with his friend. Keith picked up his books and head back to class, confused at his classmate motives. Back in class, The teacher passed out her homework and the kids began to work diligently. Keith finished quickly, his seatmate was struggling with the assignment. _Why should I bother to talk to anyone here?_ Keith got out some paper and focused on making his craft. While in the process of making an origami crane, the teacher made an announcement.

“Class, I have a project to give out for all of you and it will be a group project.” she announced. The class groaned in pain. Keith’s neighbor cried in anguish.

“Now, Now it will be a fun science project where we will share it with the rest of the third grade. It can be about anything with my approval. Let your imagination run wild, and this will be due two weeks from now.” the teacher cheered in hopes to bring up the students spirit. “Group of three to five, and choose anyone.”

The students moved around and everyone picked their friends. Keith sat down alone and began to plan out his project alone when his seatmate came up to him.

“Hey you want to be in our group?” The Cuban sat down next to Keith.

“Uhh I thought you hated me… ” Keith looked in confusion.

“Shud up, you want to join or not? Seems to me nobody wants to ask you and it is a group thing so the teacher will force you to join because she wants us to be “social.” Keith tried to counter back but his neighbor was right.

“I guess, sure why not. What’s the worst that can happen right?”

“Ok, Lance, Keith, and Hunk. That makes three!”

Lance left to go tell the teacher their group. _Wait, his name is Lance, and Hunk?! Why are they in my memories? Why now?_

“Hey, Keith right?” Hunk shuffled over to Keith.

“Yeah.”

“I'm Hunk, I hope we can do well do on this project and get along.” Hunk stuck out his hand and gave a half smile. Keith shook Hunk’s hand, _such soft and warm hands_ Keith thought to himself.

“Yeah I hope so too! But will that kid really do any work?” Keith hints to Lance.

“Don't misunderstand Lance, he's actually a hard worker!” Hunk slightly raised his voice at Keith. “I'm sorry, it's just.. I get agitated if people talk bad on my friends. If he's giving you trouble, that means he's interested in you, so don't worry.”

“I see, I'm sorry.” Keith rubbed his bangs. Lance came flying out of nowhere and latched his hands around Keith and Hunk’s neck.

“Alright, we are officially a team.” Lance yelled cheerfully. “Please carry me! my grade depends on you guys.”  Keith tried to escape but turned his head and got a glimpse of Lance. _He shines so brightly when he smiles._

Keith was so lost in thought, he lost his balance and trip over.

He looked up, things were blurry still but he could tell, he was back at the red lion. _I’m back?!._ Keith felt his body for any abnormalities. _What the hell was that?!_

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

Keith woke up on the floor of the red lion. Sweat rolled down his cheeks.  _ What just happened to me? _ Picking himself up, the red paladin got out of the red lion.  _ Maybe it was all just a coincidence. My head must be messed up because of Lance punching me.  _ Keith touched his cheek, feeling the bruise that was left, then grabbed his duvet and made his way to his room. As Keith changed into his casual clothings, the speaker announced.

“ **Paladins, we need you at the central command room now!** ” a dignified voice cried.  _ What does Allura want with us?.  _ Keith finished dressing up as fast as he can and ran down the halls. On the way down, Keith met Lance, who was still wearing his blue pajamas, toothbrush in his mouth. 

“Good Morning, Sunshine.” Lance winked, looking absolutely ‘beautiful’, with leftover toothpaste on his cheek.

“Ugh..I don't want to hear you call me that ever again.” Keith sighed at Lance in annoyance, now walking along side Lance.

“Fine with me. You’re more like an emo butt anyway.” Lance said, smirking to himself. “So how'd you sleep last night? Did the special late night running session with the cool Lance help you out?”

“Unsurprisingly, no.” Keith sneer at Lance. 

“What..this usually works.” Lance quietly pouts. Unable to hear the Lance’s words, Keith kept moving and the pair made their way to command room. Entering the room, Pidge and Hunk were building some kind of robot in the corner, while Allura’s walking in circle, stressed out.

“You two are late by 5 whole ticks!” Allura yelled. “And Lance why are you still in you pajamas?”

“Sorry.” Both paladins sighed and stood by Allura.

“It was Keith’s fault.” proclaimed Lance as he pointed at Keith. Keith glared at the blue paladin but said nothing back, hoping to not to anger Allura even more.

“Allura, it's alright, try not to get too stressed.” said Coran.

“Yes, you're quite right. But to start with why I called you here.” Allura sighed. “Paladins it is time that we get back on up and protect the universe. We've been doing nothing but hiding.” Allura slammed her fist on the table, she can’t stand not being able to do anything.

“I'm sorry Allura, but how are we going to do that. Heck we can't form Voltron anymore.” Hunk respectfully interrupted her.

“He's right.” Pidge joined in. “How will we be able to do things without Shiro...” Silence built up in the room.

“Then we start small.” Allura smiled and break the silence. She pulled up a hologram of the universe, trying to strategize their next move. “We will need to start with fixing up the ship. The Balmera, we can get another fighter class crystal there while another group can get scaultrite. While we do that, we can help local planets. All we have to do it be sneaky about it and not get caught.”

“Easier said than done…” sighed Hunk.

“But hey, we gotta at least try, nothing can change if we lay around like this. Plus, it's a nice change of pace rather than hiding all the time.” Lance joined in on the conversation.

“Yes. We can get ready to defend those under Zarkon’s tyranny, slowly but surely.” Allura said.

“Yeah, alright! I’m in. So what are our jobs?” Keith intrigued. 

“Well so far, I believe you and Lance will be going to the weblums and getting us scaultrite. While Coran, Hunk, Pidge, and I will go to the Balmera and stock up on crystals.”

“What?! Me with Keith?!” Lance complained.

“What? You afraid you can’t keep up with me?” Keith smirked.

“Hmph watch me!”

“Keith had the most experience with the weblums and Hunk gets along with the Balmerians best out of all of us here. So you guys better work together, this is no time for argument.” Allura ordered.

“Yes, ma’am” the red and blue paladin complied.

“Alright, since that's settled, Coran and I will devise a plan by tonight, so in the meantime, paladins get ready.”

* * *

 At some spaceship couple light years away and hidden by treacherous asteroid rings, Zarkon’s troops are getting armed for battle. Hagar has been devising other methods to defeat Voltron and keep Zarkon’s reign alive. She knows her final chance lies within Lotor, Zarkon’s son.

Haggar quickly go to Lotor’s throne, pleading for help.

”My prince Lotor, your father is in critical condition. Now is the time to get revenge on Voltron for what they have to your father.” Haggar cried and bow down in front of the new ruler. 

Lotor stood up, and delivered a thundering slap to Haggar

Haggar backed away, astonished by his actions.

“You fool! How can you suggest something so repugnant. I love Allura. Because of your decisions, I was separated from my love.” Lotor yelled and stared straight at Haggar. “I still remember the first day I meet her, how pure she was.”

“But my prince, please, think about your father.” Haggar responded in fear of further wrath from the prince.

“My father...means nothing to me if it means not getting Allura, he put her in harm's way.”

“But, Prin-”

“Be quiet! my father should have just let you die during the Altean genocide.”

Lotor walked out of the room, leaving Haggar devastated on the floor.

* * *

 Back at the castle, everyone hustled to get to work. Allura ran through all the equipments and plans, Pidge helped put some last minute upgrades to their equipments and Hunk, being the worrywart, checked all the equipments thrice and cooked up some food for the paladins. Lance and Keith were at the hanger, preparing for their departure. Keith was loading his clothing and necessities onto his lion, while Lance finished packing and was messing around in the room.

“Ah, this trip out into space sounds fun.” Lance said cheerfully.

“Lance, you know we have a mission tomorrow right? And without… Shiro at that. Try to take things seriously for once. This is an important mission!”

“Dude, your annoying attitude is starting to show.” Lance muttered.

“What attitude?! This is a serious mission. Everything we do at this point is a risk.”

“Yeah but gotta be a bit loose sometimes ya know! Gotta be calm as the waves.

” Lance wiggled his arms to imitate waves. 

“What the hell man.” Keith sighed, looking over a Lance, a small smile appeared on his cheek.  _ I guess that's one good thing about you. _

* * *

 Across the hanger, Pidge and Hunk were in the control room. The green and yellow paladins were working on modifications on the their lions. While working on their defense, Pidge remembered something Lance said. She looked over at the control room window and saw Lance running around. Devising a plan, Pidge quickly crawled over to Hunk.

“Hunk, do you remember that time when you and I were stuck in the hangar and there was no gravity?”

“Uhh, yeah and that we almost puke at every corner and I had to kick you to the control button but I missed so we floated until Coran and Lance appeared?”

“Well more like you almost puked everywhere but yeah. And do you remember how Lance said it's so much “fun” to float in zero gravity?”

“Yeah?”

“Why don't we give him a taste of his own medicine.”

“But why? Wouldn't Lance get mad at us?” 

“Don't worry about it. We can say it was a system malfunction.” Pidge smirked.

“Hmm, I guess we can, he also said being attacked by food goo is nothing. He would never understand the pain of being attacked by the ones you love.” Hunk clenched his fists in pain. “I'm in!”

“Alright, lemme just mess around with the system, Hunk help me with the wires.”

* * *

Back at Lance and Keith, they were done packing up. Suddenly a loud pulse sound echoed through the room.

“Uhh, what was that?”

“I don't know.”

Keith reached for his helmet when it started to float away. He looked over at Lance and the blue paladin was floating. Everything in the hanger drifted off slowly. Keith tried to move but was stuck into one place.

“What the hell!?!? We're floating?!” Lance shrieked to the point where his voice cracked. “Oh man what if the castle is trying to kill us again.” Lance ruffled his head in confusion. Then another announcement was made, not from Allura. 

“Muhahahaha, justice has come to serve you Lance for you have said being in zero gravity is fun”, a shrill voice called out, “Now, it is time for you to face the same punishment that we went through.”

“Uhh, Pidge, I thought we weren't going to reveal ourselves.” said a deep voice.

“Hunk, it's more dramatic if we do it like this but anyways. Have fun Lance being stuck it one spot.”

“Hunk, Pidge, get down here and fight me!” Lance cried.

“Ha, even I can beat you, one on one!” Pidge’s voice echoed.

“Bring it bird ball.” Lance starts punching and kicking the air. “Come here and I'll choke you !”

“Nah, I'd rather let you suffer floating. See ya nerd.”

“Pidgee!!”

“Hey there's no point in doing anything,” Keith said. “Let's just wait until they get back..”

“Hm, fine! But you better watch Pidge, I'll get back at cha one day!” Lance sneered.

While floating in the empty space. Keith reminisced the recent dream he had.  _ Why can't I get that dream out of my head. It's probably a coincidence maybe I just so happened to dream of Lance and Hunk. But was that dream part of my childhood? Argh this is so frustrating.  _ Keith rubbed his hair, making his mullet messier than ever. The red paladin looked over at Lance, questioning if he really was the same one in his dreams. Lance was shooting his bayard around, the recoil help Lance move around and he was enjoying himself.  _ Is that really the same Lance?  _ Lance caught Keith looking at him and analyzed his face.

“You want to join in on the fun?” Lance waved around his rifle.

“No thanks, you enjoy yourself”

Lance shrugged and continued to shoot around around in space. Keith rubbed his front bange, confused with everything. The red paladin closed his eyes, drifting further and further away. Fifteen minutes passed by, Pidge still has not turned on the gravity yet. 

“Hey, Keith!” Lance called out. Keith opened his eyes to see that he had floated far away from Lance. Lance shot his way over to Keith. The recoil allowed him to move around easily.

“What?” Keith yelled back.

“Dude you're pretty far away. You're right next to the airlock. What if you get sucked out?”

“Uhh, pretty sure it needs to scan my hand to open. Why are you so worried?” Keith asked.

“No reason.” Lance reached out his hand to Keith. “Here, grab on!”

“Why?” Keith raised his eyebrow.

“Just grab on.”

Grabbing onto the hand, Keith noticed Lance’s hand was red, bruised, and poorly bandaged.  _ I wonder what happened to him.  _ Lance’s hand, although beaten and bruised, brought a sense of warmth to Keith. Lance pulled Keith away from the airlock.

“Don't want the red paladin to try to run away again now do we?” Lance smirked.

“You made that joke already, no need to rub salt on it again” Keith pouted.

“But you know for the red lion, who control fire, you sure have cold hands.”

“What the. Shut up man!”

“But it's are smooth and rough. You train really hard don't you Keith.”

“Dude that's so creepy.”

Both paladins looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh. Across the hanger,  Hunk and Pidge were finishing up their modes when Allura and Coran walked in. 

“Amazing work Pidge. Are these for your lions?” Coran inspected the shields made. 

“Haha, thanks. But Hunk did most of the heavy work” Pidge patted Hunk on the back.

“Uhh, I'm sorry to ask but why is Lance and Keith floating” Allura stared at the window. 

“Oh uh… nothing! Nobody's floating.” Pidge stuttered and tried to block the view with her body. 

“Pidge, what is going on?” Allura stared at Pidge suspiciously.

“Hunk and I were pulling a prank on Lance.” Pidge muttered quickly.

“What was that?”

“Hunk and I were pulling a prank on Lance.” Pidge said nervously.

Allura gave Pidge an odd stare.

“Well, as much as I would love for them to be stuck floating, sadly we have to let them go.” Allura chuckled. Pidge smiled back.

“Alright, Hunk, help me out buddy.” Pidge walked over to the controls.

“Hey, Lance we're going to let you down now.” Hunk announced. Lance flipped around. 

“About time dude.” Lance fumbled around.

“Turning on gravity now.” Pidge sighed.

“Wait Lance watch out for the floating-” Keith cried out.

The gravity turned on, and everything fell back on the floor. Lance fell gracefully on his face as Keith perfectly placed his feet on the floor. His eyes locked onto the blue paladin as the crates started to fall down. Keith dashed over to Lance.  _ I'm not fast enough.  _ The red paladin slid down the floor. Keith kicked Lance out of the box way and Lance grabbed Keith’s leg, making both paladin tumbles out if the way. 

“Are you okay?!” Lance panicked, trying to find out what happened. Lance quickly realize that Keith was right on top of him. “Dude are you falling for me already?” Lance winked.

“I can’t believe you're making joke at a time like this.” Keith sighed at Lance in disbelief, and got off the blue paladin still in shocked of what just happened. “Anyhow I’m alright, you ok?”

“Who cares about me.” Lance whispered under his breath. He got up and  pulled out a bandage from his jacket. “Here, lift up your arms.”

“Uh, Why?”

“Cause of your arm. It’s bleeding.”

“Oh, this is nothing, don't worry about it.”

“Just listen to me will ya.” Keith unwillingly followed Lance’s order and lifted his arm. While Lance was applying the bandage, Keith looked at his teammate. 

“That should do the trick.” Lance put both of his arms on his hips. At that moment, Pidge, Allura, Hunk, and Coran had walked in.

“Lance!!” cried Hunk. The yellow paladin came running with open arms. Hunk bear hugged his friend. Lance hugged back and crying about the horrors he went through. The blue paladin glared at Pidge.

“Pidge! you nearly killed us!”

“Oh, ha ha… whoopsies”

“What do you mean “whoopsies”?!?”

“Hey at least we avoided the crisis.” Allura smiled. “Here, Coran has been able to work out a plan for us to work on while we wait for things to be sorted out.”

“Ah, yes. Well paladins it looks like we are in luck. It's weblum mating season. A season for love.” Coran raised his eyebrow coyly. “ So we can get the things we need from them. While contacting the Balmerians, there have been no fighter class crystal emerging yet. So we have at most one week to finish. Keith, Lance I've sent you the coordinates on a popular breeding ground. And the rest we improvise.” Coran smiled.

“Alright everyone got that?” Allura assured.

“Yes ma’am”

“Good, then everyone rest for tonight and let's change the future!”

The paladins went to leave the room. Keith overheard Lance and Hunk whispering in secret.

“Meet me up tonight?” Lance winked at Hunk.

“You got it”

_ I wonder what they're doing?   _ Ignoring the exchange between Hunk and Lance, Keith turned to went to his room when someone grabbed Keith’s wrist. He turned around and saw Allura holding onto him. 

“Keith, can I have a moment with you?” Allura looked at him and wanting to say something.

“Uhh, yeah, sure”

Allura lead Keith to the balcony. The clouds were thick, showing no stars. Only the moon strived through the condensed clouds. Allura leaned onto the railings, letting the wind softly blew her hair. Her eyes were were downtrodden.  _ She is gorgeous as always.  _ The silence built up and she finally spoke.

“Keith, I'm sorry.”

“For? Is me being Galra still a problem?”

“No, it's not that… I’m sorry I treated you like trash.” Allura paused to collect her thoughts. “I found out that Haggar is an Altean just like me, and that she was just as responsible for destroying Altea as the Galras. I realize that my kind was just as bad, and there were no reason for me to hate on all Galras. I’m very sorry Keith, and I completely understand if you want to hold a grudge against me for it.”

Keith listened to Allura’s resolve. He took a deep breathe of the fresh air, and responded.

“Of course I'm still mad but what can I do about it. There's no use dwelling on it. So all I can say is don't worry about it.” Keith smiled.

“Haha, I guess so. I truly was the enemy. Thank you, Keith. So no hard feelings?”

“Yeah. No hard feelings.”

Allura sighed in relief, “Thank you.”

Both of them enjoyed the comfortable silence that was finally gotten after a long time of animosity. The tensions were released when Keith spoke up.

“But kinda selfish that you were about to get closure.” Keith smiled. “I should have let you drowned in guilt til the very end.” The red paladin sarcastically said.

“Yeah, it is.” Allura stared at the sky. “You know as compensation, I can tell you some secrets that I know about everyone.”

Keith rested his cheek on the palm of his hand. 

“Do tell my princess.”

“Well a certain blue paladin has been sleepwalking. Let's just say he fights you in his dreams and always wins.

“Seriously?! Only in his dreams.” Keith snorted.

“You’d be surprised. Oh also,” Allura came closer to Keith. “Do you remember how Coran’s mustache suddenly disappeared?”

“Yeah...?” Keith smiled with anticipation. “Why did you do it?”

“Well, apparently, that one day you earthlings call “April fools.” Allura couldn't contain her laughter, cupping her mouth just in time and continued the story. “Pidge and Hunk were able to sneak into Coran’s room while Coran was sleeping and gave him a good shave. Till this day, Coran still haven't figured out what happened to his most precious.”

Keith let out a burst of laughter and Allura joined in.

“Those two are amazing!”

“Indeed they are, I wouldn't even dare to touch Coran’s mustache,”Allura looked out into the night, admiring the view. “ Although i would like to talk more Keith, I’m a bit tired from the long day, I think it's time for me to sleep. We do have a big day tomorrow.”

“Yea you’re right, here let me walk you to your room.”

Keith walked Allura to her room, they paused in front of Allura’s door.

“Thank you Keith.”

“Don't worry about it.  I'm just glad our feelings are mutual now.”

Allura smiled and went to bed. Keith made his way to his room.  _ I guess things did work out, I should go tell Lance we made up. _ Keith stopped in his track.  _ Why did I think of him. _ Keith entered his room and took off his jacket and pants, revealing his boxers and slipped into bed. His eyelids felt heavy from the long day, and Keith fell asleep. 

* * *

 

An alarm went off, making Keith jump. He opened his eyes and saw that he was in an apartment complex.  _ Where am I? Am I back into my dreams. I guess I have to see things play out again.  _ The T.V was turned on, reporting the sunny weather of San Diego. 

_ San Diego huh, hopefully this place won't be too bad. _ Keith looked over at a clock, it's  17:45. Keith got up from the couch and made his way over to a room with a man in it.

“Dad!” Keith ran and lightly shook his dad. The man groaned and rolled over on his side.  _ Wait what?! _

“Dad, come on. You have work.”Keith jumped onto his dad's bed and poked the man's face. 

“I don't wanna.” Keith’s dad hid his face under the blanket. 

“Dad come on it’s-” Keith went to pull off the blanket when all of a sudden he felt his waist being pulled in. The man bear hugged Keith and rubbed the little boy with his stubbles of poorly shaven chin. 

“Is  this my beautiful son?”

“Dad stop.” Keith giggled. Keith’s dad loosened his grip, allowing Keith to escape and gave the boy a kiss on the cheek. The man got off his bed and went to go to the restroom. Keith got off the bed and headed towards the kitchen. Packing up lunch, Keith prepared his dad's satchel. The black haired man came out dressed in a lab coat with black button up and pants and went to go put his shoes on. Keith ran towards the door and opened it for his dad. Keith’s dad got up and pat his son's head.

“Thank you Keith, you have a good day.” The man pats his son and left the apartment. Keith locked the door. Looking at the empty halls, Keith walked back to the living room and placed his homework on the coffee table.

“A good day, huh?” Keith looked out to the window, looking blankly at the clear weather. “Better start the project now.” Keith was assigned to doing the poster along with Lance while Hunk wrote down notes for them to copy off of. _I wonder if that kid would even do anything._ Keith sighed and looked at the clock, 19:36. 

“I guess this a good break time.” Keith stretched himself. He looked over at the glass door leading to the balcony.  _ I haven't gotten a good view of this place.  _ Taking a journal with him, Keith opened the balcony door and went outside. Smog covered the skylines that night, but Keith was still able to scope out the constellations. 

“I finally found Gemini!” Keith jotted down the stars alignment location, and closed his journal. His eyes focused on the stars. The night wind softly blew and the ocean scent traveled to the apartments. Keith shifted his attention to the beach below him.  _ The ocean sure is blue even at this time of night.  _ Snapping out of his imagination , Keith turned to go back when something caught his attention.  The apartment across from his balcony, brightly lit, was causing a commotion. Keith, curious, peeked across the connecting balcony through the window. The family was loud, the mother was trying to get her daughter off the phone, her son was running around the house yelling and laughing. In the corner of Keith’s eye, the father was laughing and came over to comfort his stressed wife.

_ What a warm family, they are a bit loud though... _ Keith noted. The wife told her son to do something outside in the balcony. Keith heard footsteps and tried to avoid confronting the son when the door opened. 

“Alright mom, I'll go water the plants.” shouted the annoying voice. The boy turned around to the direction of Keith’s house and gave a shocked face. Opening one eye, Keith saw Lance in front of him.

“What are you doing over there mullet boy?!”

“Uhh I live here?” Keith annoyed, questioning why he stayed for so long.

“Honey, dinner is ready. What’s taking you so lo-” A woman stepped out, who was short, tanned, and dark haired like Lance, holding two babies. “Oh, is this a new friend of yours?”

“Heckles no. He's my rival and just transferred. I just have to do a project with him.”

“Uh huh. Sweetie what is your name?”

“It's Keith.” Keith gave a bow to the lady.

“Keith, a lovely name. How is Lance in class? And Lance you didn't mention a project.”

“Oh uh he's ok.” _ Why am I saving his ass again. _

“I see, well Lance, report cards came in” Lance froze in place. “And I've got to say low participation and your grades are at an all time low. It's actually quite amazing” Lance’s sarcastically pretending to tear up.

“Mom I can explain-” Lance slowly stepped back, afraid of the consequences.

“No more excuses Lance. You are going to go work on your project with your accomplice after dinner. No questions asked.”

“Yes mom...”

“And Keith sweetie, try not to lie during first impressions, ok? Lance’s mom winked.

“Yes ma’am” Keith rubbed the back of his hair.

“Good. Lance go over to Keith after dinner.”

“I guess I'll see you soon..” Lance shot a glare.

“Looking forward to it.”, Keith said sarcastically.

Two hours passed by, Keith have been working diligently and finally took a break. After waiting for Lance for so long, Keith decided to just hope for a “C” at this point. The boy take a break from working and turned on the T.V, all wrapped up and cozy in his blankets. A couple minutes passed when Keith heard something tapping on his balcony door. Walking to the balcony, he saw Lance about to throw a pebble.  

“Where the heck have you been? I've been waiting for hours!”

“So?” Lance begins stretching. 

“So? What do you mean s-”

“Hey!” Lance interrupted.

“What?!” Keith pissed at his neighbor.

“Catch me.” Lance smiled. The boy ran and jumped on to the railing. He made a great leap but went a bit too high. “Whoa watch out!!”

Keith eyes wide opened and he tried to make his escape from being jumped on but failed when a heavy weight pushed him down. The crushing pain hurt his body. _ How much longer do I have to deal with this idiot…   _ Keith sighed. The black haired boy opened his eyes to see that Lance was on top of him.

“Do you like it here under my arms.” Lance sarcastically flirted.

“Get off of me!” Keith pushed Lance off of him. Both boys got up. Keith decided to be a good house host.  _ Maybe I've been treating him unfairly, it can't hurt to try and be nice to him. _

“Hey, I’m sorry for being a butt to you.” Keith rubbed his front bangs. “But come in, and make yourself at home.”

“That was the plan.” Lance took off his shoes and jumped onto the couch. “Huh, you were slacking off watching TV and all.”

“What no! That's because you were being so slow.” Keith responded, annoyed that his work is being undermined. _ Well  being nice option just got thrown straight out the window.  _

“Eh, I had dinner and gave myself a relaxing bath.”

“And that took you two hours?” Keith raised his eyebrow.

“Hey my beauty is number one. You need to paid to have soft skin like mines.” Lance posed smugly, admiring his skin. “So let's  see… Do you have anything fun in this apartment?” Lance gave a mischievous smirk and started inspecting Keith’s home. The boy looked at every corner,checked out the kitchen and found no food in the fridge, he even inspected the restroom and it's magnificent toilet bowl. Meanwhile Keith is watching Lance rummaged through his stuff and is getting irritated. 

“Can you please stop looking around.” Keith said politely, trying to keep his cool.

“Why? Do you have something to hid?” Lance winked.

“No, it’s… nevermind.” Keith grumpily supervised Lance. Lance continued to explore when he came  across Keith's room. He entered and jumped right onto the bed. Keith's room was plain, only containing a few necessary things. Looking around, Lance saw Keith's neatly folded clothes, a small work table, and an old bookshelf. Lance intrigued by the bookshelf, got off the bed and walked over to the shelf. On it, he noticed a picture of Keith with a tall, dark haired man with stubbles, who Lance assumed was Keith's dad. They were standing next to a small little hill with a plaque on the hill and the picture was blurry to show the name of the person in it.

“My mom was buried there, in Korea, me and my dad were visiting her grave that day.” Keith said softly.

“Oh, I'm sorry.”

“No, don't worry,  you were curious about it. Even I don't know much about her.” Keith crossed his arms, guarding himself. “But for now let's just go get to work.”

“Okay”

The two boys went out into the living room and Keith got supplies to make the poster. Keith proceed to start working. Lance sat down to him and worked. Ten minutes later, Keith turned his eyes to see if his partner was doing anything, he wasn't. Lance was sprawled out onto the floor, half asleep.

“Are you even doing anything…?”

“I am. I'm hanging out with you!”

“Can you actually just do something please, do it for Hunk at least. And aren’t you on the verge of failing this class?”

“Nah, you're going to care about this project anyway, and a bad grade on this project won't dent Hunk’s grade nor mine.” Lance yawned and laid on his side.

_ Really he's going to give me this attitude right now _ . “Then how about we both try to make different parts of the poster. Whoever does the better job has …  bragging rights.” 

“Uhh why?” Lance raises an eyebrow.

“What? Are you too scared I'll win.”

“What! No, I'll create something ten times cooler than yours.” Lance jumped himself up, grabbing construction paper and started working.  _ Thank god that actually worked. _

One hour passed, Keith started to feel his eyes droop.  _ God damn it I'm tired don't succumb to temptation…  _ Keith's head hit his table and he was lights out. Lance looked over at the fallen boy. Laughing to himself, Lance bought over a blanket and laid it on Keith. Lance continued to work diligently when Keith rolled his head and hit the floor. Surprised to see if Keith hurt himself, Lance scuttle to check on Keith. Keith was still asleep and was comfortable at that.  _ Woah he can sleep through everything, _ Lance grinned. Readjusting Keith, Lance stared around the empty house.  _ How do you live being alone almost all the time.  _ Lance touched Keith's hair and began petting it.  _ He's like a lost kitten.  _ Realizing what he was doing, Lance jumped and went back to doing his work. Lance worked diligently and was able to finish alone. Keith could feel himself waking up and woke up to see Lance laying on the couch playing with his Mercury Game Flux portable. About to tell Lance to get back to work, Keith looked over at the coffee table to see his neighbor finished working on the posters that were beautifully done.

“Looks like I get all the bragging rights.” Lance flashed a prideful smile at Keith.

Hmph, I guess so.” Keith crossed his arms. Looking at the clock, it read 23:30.  _ I was asleep for that long. It's pretty late.  _ Keith looked over at his balcony door and his neighbor’s house was dark.  _ I'm about to regret this so much…   _ “Hey do you want to sleepover? It's already so late”

“Uh, well I guess… ” Lance rolled over to look at Keith.

“Ok, you can take my bed, and I'll lay out a futon for myself.”

“Hm, thanks.”

Keith carried his futon into his room and Lance followed. Lance laid down on Keith’s bed and Keith turned off the lights and made his way to the futon. 

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

The awkward silence looms over them. Remembering what Hunk said about Lance being interested in Keith, the black haired boy decided to strike up a conversation.

“So at school, you fight a lot?”

“How'd you know that?!”

“Dude people talk and it's been like a week, not to mention you’re literally famous school wide.”

“Well if you're that interested in me… ”

“Ha, no.”

“Ok, I guess I won't tell.”

“No, tell me.”

“I knew you were interested.” Lance laughed. “Well to be honest… some kids at our school they have a tendency to pick on my friends, Hunk and Pidge.”

_ Pidge?! _ Keith thought to himself. 

“Some kids would always make fun of Hunk’s weight and all he does is takes it and continues to smile. He'd always tell me it's nothing, but I know he's really crying. Hunk is too kind to say anything, but words like that really hurts.” Lance sighed. “Pidge has his own sets of problem. It's not with his family more like not being able to follow his brother. He doesn't fit in because he moved up two grades so everyone ignores him. Not only that, teachers are always pressuring him to try even harder. He doesn't get a break. It's either you have to follow Matt or isolation from others.” Lance closed his eyes. 

Keith turned to his side, staring the frame of his bed and saw Lance’s hand hanging at the edge of his bed. Keith's hand naturally touched on to Lance’s  hand.  _ Why am I doing this ?! Despite him fighting so much, his hands are surprisingly smooth and soft.  _ Shocked from Keith's actions, Lance retracted his hand away. 

“Sorry.”

“No, it's okay.” Lance touching his hand softly, slightly embarrassed. “You know with you I feel like I can tell you anything, even though I hate you and all.”

“Wow you just had to ruin our bonding moment.” Keith smiled.

“Hey there was not a bonding moment between us,” Lance smiled. “But it's actually pretty late I'm gonna sleep.”

“Okay, good night then.”

“Goodnight.” Lance snuggled inside the soft duvet and Keith soon heard light snores coming out of Lance.  _ I guess I should get some sleep too.  _ It was 01:14, Keith couldn't sleep and rolled around on his futon. He got up quietly, trying not to wake up Lance and grabbed his Mercury Game Flux portable, and retreated back to his futon. Playing Poke-tron under his blanket. Suddenly, a light thud hit his futon. Keith jumped and dropped his console. Keith looked over at his duvet and Lance was laying next to him, watching Keith play his game. 

“What the heck, weren't you asleep?”

“I was, until someone was loud, trying to sneak around. So what version of Poke-tron do you have. Silver Soul or Gold Heart?”

“Silver Soul.”

“Woah, that means I can trade with you and complete my Tron-dex. Where are you at?”

“Uh, I'm trying to beat Whitnie but her Kaltenecker keeps using roll out along with her recovery potions.” 

“Here, lemme see...Dude you should at least evolve your Cindera to a Quilera, and train your Tokepi too. Catch more Poke-tron as well, why do you only have Trons that loses to rock? At least get a Dogelett or some ground type.” 

“But Cindera is cute… ”

After some level grinding and capturing, Keith finally faced Whitnie and was able to beat her. 

“Woah! I actually beat her!”

“Your welcome!” Lance smugly smiled. “This gym was nothing with my awesome Ferlidile”

“Thanks! I thought I would never pass her.” Keith sighed in relief. “You know, despite your behavior, you're a pretty cool guy.”

Lance looked at Keith, stunned by his words. “You too, you aren't an emo butt after all.”

“Are you complimenting me?”

“Shut… yeah I am… so what?” Lance frowned at Keith. Keith looked at Lance and started to hear things. 

“Hey are you okay?”

“No, I'm fine. Just hearing things.”

“Weird… you know, we should get some sleep. It’s early morning already.” Lance climbed back onto Keith's bed. 

“Goodnight again.” Lance chuckled.

“Yea you too… for real this time.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Keith woke up from his dream and bolted right up. He was rapidly breathing, covered in his own sweat.  _ Seriously what the hell is happening to me? _ Looking over at the clock, 01:00, Keith laid down hugging his pillow.  _ What are you trying to show me, Black… ? _ Keith screamed into his pillow, rubbing and ruffling his hair out of frustration. Keith stared at the ceiling of his room, _ I guess it's another sleepless night, may as well use this time to do something. _ Keith grabbed his bayard and headed towards the training deck. On the way, the red paladin made his way over to kitchen to get a light snack. Keith hunched over and opened the fridge. The frosty blow slightly awakened Keith and the stale white light of the fridge blinded him, highlighting Keith's eye bags. The red paladin checked around the refrigerator for something to snack on, the items present were: Hunk’s marinated food, Pidge’s new “freeze” gun, and Lance’s facial cream.  _ I can't make anything with this… _ The red paladin settled for a water bottle and trailed his way to the training deck, and finished his drink on the way. Keith made it to the training room and proceed to change into a grey v-neck and red training shorts, his standard workout equipment. He grabbed his bayard and started to head to his spot when suddenly he heard some noises in the courtyard.  _ Who’s shooting their gun this late at night? _ Keith took cover by the door, and peeked over the it and saw Hunk and Lance battling each other. Hunk fired rounds at Lance, the bullets trailed behind every movement the blue paladin made.

“Ha, is that all you got Lance!?” Hunk smirked.

“This isn't even my final form!” Lance yelled. Shielding himself, Lance charged towards and powered through the yellow paladin rounds. The blue paladin slid down the floor, avoiding the shots, and was beneath the yellow paladin before Hunk could react, Lance jumped, using his untransformed bayard as a dagger and struck the yellow paladin on the chin. Hunk fell back, rubbing his head. 

“Ah, dude that hurt!” Hunk nearly tearing up. 

“I’m just that good, man.” Lance gave a half smile and reached out his arm. Hunk grabbed on and supported himself up.

“Yeah, I guess that means you're improving, but I think that's enough for me tonight Lance”

“Hmm, Alright Hunk, I’ll see you tomorrow”

“Goodnight” Hunk was walking back and Keith tried to look as inconspicuous as possible. Their eyes met and Hunk flashed a smile at Keith.

“Hey hotshot, what are you doing here up so late?”, Hunk asked.

“Oh uh, some late night training I guess. I'll just leave since Lance is using the room.”, Keith responded.

“How'd you know Lance is in there? Spying on us?” Hunk teasingly looked at Keith. Flustered, Keith rubbed the back of his hair. “I'm just messing with you.”

Hunk looked over to Lance, who was now fighting with a training bot, and came up with a suggestion. “You know, maybe you should spar with Lance.”

“Uh, why?”

“Why not?” Hunk smiled. “He's been training at it hard, so even you might be surprised.”

“Is that so?” Keith intrigued. “Alright, don't let me down Hunk. If you really say he's that good...”

“You won't be disappointed.” Hunk pat Keith’s shoulder and left the training deck. 

_ Alright let's see what Lance is made of.  _ Keith walked into the middle of Lance training, leaning against the wall and watched the blue paladin spar with the robot. The robot slashed its way towards Lance, forcing him to step back. On constant defense, Lance used his shield to guard until the robot pushed him into a corner. As it raised its sword, Lance should have been trapped, but Keith only saw Lance give a mischievous smirk.

“I've seen it.” Lance whispered under his breath. He swung his shield to the robot's foot, staggering it. Then he tumbled out of the way and changed his bayard to his trustful gun. Recovering from the fall, the bot dashed towards Lance. Lance jumped backward, fell to the ground and prepared his shot. Lance took careful aim, he predicted the robot’s movement, and with precision, shot the robot right between its eyes. 

“Haha, Alright.” Lance fist pumped in excitement. As he was about to called for a new training bot, Lance noticed Keith watching him and giving him a cocky smile at that.

“You wanna take a jab at me?”. Keith got off the wall and walked towards Lance.

“Anything to punch you again and wipe that smug look off your face for good.” Lance took off his shirt, showing off his slim body, drench from sweat.

“Can't handle the heat against me?” Keith smirked and turned his bayard into his sword. Lance held onto his rifle, keeping it locked onto the red paladin. Both walking in circles around each other, trying to find openings, none dared to make a move. Keith positioned his foot towards Lance, bending his knee slightly, and in one swift movement glided in front Lance, almost landing a hit on him. Lance reacted just as quick, turning to his side and felt the slash of Keith's sword cutting through his hair. The blue paladin shot toward Keith’s foot, forcing the red paladin to be unbalanced and lessen the chances of recovery. Lance used this time to distant himself from Keith. Keith glared at Lance over his shoulder, and dashed over to him. Lance, expecting a hard strike, turned his rifle to his shield. Keith threw his sword directly to Lance, trying to get through Lance defenses. Lance tried to sidestep the sword, thus broke his stance and exposed his sides. Keith slid down and grabbed his bayard, the  spun his body around quickly to hit the blue paladin. Quickly turning his shield to his side, Lance successfully blocked the strike, but the impact of the two bayards on each other made Lance slid back and pushed Keith away. Keith used this chance and charged towards Lance, going for the kill when a Lance shot directly towards Keith. Keith saw the shots and backed off to dodge it. Lance, on the offensive, started to shoot rapidly at Keith. Keith, focused on the movement of where each bullet went, slashed the bullets and reflected them away. The red paladin charged at the direction of the shots, his eyes still focused on Lance's endless spray of bullets.

“Time to end this.” Keith said confidently and struck with his sword to where he expected Lance to be, but Lance had vanished. Keith’s movement may be random, but Lance have seen Keith fight enough times to know what Keith is trying to do. Keith felt something pressed against his back, he glanced around to see Lance snapped his finger, imitating a bang.

“Looks like it's my win!” Lance grinned. Keith turned around, shocked at what just happened.  _ How!? _

“How’d you disappear like that?” Keith asked, still confused as to how he lost the battle.

“Magic,” Lance smirked in response. “ Just kidding, I’ve seen you fight enough to learn your patterns, all I had to do was made you focus on the bullets and use that to move into your blind spots.”

“Wow… That’s amazing!” Keith said in awe.

“I know!” Lance said happily. 

“Not that, I’m surprised that you've been secretly watching me.” Keith joked.

“Pft, shut up!” Lance smiled.

The paladin sat down for a water break, enjoying the moment.

“So Lance, do you always come here to train nowadays?”

“Oh you did notice my well defined muscles? They’re great” Lance raised his chest and flexed his muscles. Keith inspected Lance’s body up and down. His cheeks and ears turning to a light pink, Lance turned his head away unbeknownst to Keith.

“Yeah right, you wish! You're still a twig that's just about to snap.” Keith laughed.

“Ha, you're one to talk.” Lance quickly retaliated and bumped his shoulder onto Keith. A comfortable silence fell over both of them as they rested from the heated battle. Keith leaned back against the cold, metallic wall and looked across the room.  _ It's nice being besides Lance _ ... _ Shiro would have liked this. No fighting, no constant bickering.  _ Lance’s eyes glance at Keith, noticing the distortion in his eyes. 

“Hey, we'll get Shiro back.” Lance gave a pained smile.

“Yes, I hope so…” Keith fidgeted with his shirt and turned to Lance. “In this universe there are billions of stars, it's so easy to get sweep up. With Shiro. I only let him in. He knew everything about me and gave me guidance even though I didn't know what I was doing. He's someone I can trust, someone who looked after me, someone I'd give my life to… I guess he was someone who showed me love in a way. Without him I feel lost.” Keith raised his head, holding back the tears, and looked at Lance. “So have you ever felt this way? Lost and unsure of what to do?”

“Why are you getting all philosophical on me?” Lance quietly laughed and went silent. “Yeah, I have”

“Really? Even someone like you?”

“Surprisingly so… ” Lance looked at the cyan, metallic floor. “Ever since Shiro disappeared, I've been trying to push myself harder because I feel..like a nobody in Voltron… ”

“Lance, you aren't a nobody”, Keith said, looking concerned.

“No, listen, Blue...Allura told me she is the most accepting, friendly, outgoing lion out of all of them. Does that mean she picked me for who I am or as a convenience? Literally anyone who is outgoing could replace me…” Lance looked up at the ceiling and the light slightly blinded him. “Everyone has such an important role: Pidge got the brains, Hunk the heart, Shiro the leader, Allura the captain, Coran the advisor… and you the genius pilot. And what am I? The sharpshooter?” Lance laughed at the verge of tears. “That's just a stupid name I gave myself. I'm sorry I  giving you this rant.” Lance scoffed. 

“No, no, I'm sorry. I don't know what to say or to do. I just feel useless.” Keith looked at Lance, expressing sorrow in his eyes. Lance looked at Keith but smiled warmly at him. 

“It's okay. You don't have to be sorry nor do you have to do anything. Just listening to me, being there. That is enough for me.” Lance smiled brightly. Keith couldn't turn away from Lance, the smile that sucked him in. “That's all I can ever ask for.”

“But in the meantime is it okay if I confide in you?” Lance rested his head on Keith's shoulder. Closing his eyes , the blue paladin felt at peace and recollected his thoughts. Lance’s hair tickled his face but, Keith didn't mind and concentrated only on him.

“Yea, I don’t mind.” Keith said. 

“Well then, I'll gladly take some of your time then” Lance gently smiled and lifted his head.

“Of course” Keith softly smiled. Lance gave a disheartening smile.

“I want to see my family, friends back in San Diego. Go on our yearly trip to the Veradero beach.” Lance sighed, swallowing the lump in his throat. “My siblings are all back home, growing up, and I want to be there. To watch my older sister finally graduate medical school, for my little brother and younger sister to go to the first grade and their reactions when they lose their first tooth.” The thought warmed Lance. “You know, my mom and I. We would always make tamales every year and it was a tradition that my great great grandmother created, where the mother and sons would make tamales. It was a pain to go to the supermarket super early in the morning. It was so annoying to separate every single corn husk and pounding on the masa, oh my god it was such a pain to do. But in the end, I love spending time with my mom. My dad would also pop in once a while to steal some food because he couldn't wait, he said the smell makes him hungry.” Lance smiled. “But being here made me realized how much my family means to me. And I wanna do what I can to protect them”

Lance looked over at Keith, who was staring blankly at the ground.

“Family huh… ”. Keith glanced at Lance. “Have you told anyone else?”

“Of course I have. I’ve told Hunk and Pidge, they are my best friends.”, Lance chuckled and continued what he was saying. “They would give me words of encouragement, and it does bring my spirits back up. But I want someone to listen and say nothing sometimes.” Lance smiled. “I'm sorry, we should probably talk about something else. How are you doing? Sleeping okay?”

“Oh uh… ” Keith looked at the floor. Deciding whether or not the tell Lance, the red paladin sighed.  _ It's okay, I can tell him, trust him. _ “Honestly I don't know if I've been sleeping”

“What do you mean?”

“Lately I've been getting these dreams or memories, like connections to my past and childhood. But strangely in these memories I keep seeing this one boy and his name is Lance.”. Keith stared Lance, analyzing his face. “He has a skin tone and hair color like yours but for some reason I can't seem to remember his eye color. I feel like if I looked at them closely I'd get lost, I wonder why...” Keith sighed. “But anyways, are you the Lance in my memories?”

Lance stayed quiet and looked at Keith's eyes. “So you're having dreams about me? I mean we just started getting along.” Lance winked and sighed. “Don't be stupid why would I even be a part of your past?”

“Yeah..why would you be… ?” Keith turned his head away, slightly disappointed.

“Hey, it's getting late, you want to head back in?”

“Yea, let’s get some rest for tomorrow” Keith got up and was ready to go when, he noticed small tear stains on his shoulder. Keith watched as Lance walk away and rubbed his bangs.  _ Lance? _  Keith and Lance walked back to their room, which were directly across each other. They walked side by side and enjoyed the comfortable silence. Keith felt a warmth and was exhausted from his training.

“Hey you have a goodnight” Lance said as the paladin got close to his room.

“Yeah you too man. Hey you can trust me anytime.” 

“I intend to” Lance smiled and walked into his room. Keith stared at the door across his room.  _ Since when did these halls get so short...  _ Keith leaned on his door, watching the door across from his. Sounds of ticking echoed through the halls, Keith turned and went inside his room, looking at his blue lion plush set on his bed. 

* * *

 

Lance jumped onto his bed, turning to his side. Looking at the red lion plush intently, Lance gave a distressed look at the lion.

“I can't…” He turned to his side and fell asleep.

* * *

 

That morning everyone meet up in the central command room. Allura reviewed the plan with the paladins all rounded up and focused.

“Alright, Did everyone get the plan?”

“Yes ma’am”, the paladins said in unison.

“Then paladins get to your units”

“Wait, before we go, I made lunch for everyone.” Hunk interrupted. 

“But we should be on schedule. With Shiro out, we are all on edge.” Allura gave Hunk a sad look. “I'm sorry Hunk, maybe next time.”

“It's okay... I'll just pack it up.” Hunk went to go to the kitchen.

“Now, Now we're all tense so why not enjoy lunch”. Coran looked at Allura and smiled. Allura gave a half smile in defeat, and looked at all the paladins.

“Then let's have that lunch. Shall we?”

The paladins relaxed a bit, and made their way to the dining hall. Lance sat next to Hunk, the pair started some jokes with each other. Pidge was messing with her laptop and eating at the same time, trying her best to ignore Lance’s and Hunk’s stupid jokes. Allura was quietly feeding the mice as Coran was looking at the reflection in his spoon, fixing his mustache. 

“One day it'll grow back to its former glory…” Coran painfully cried out. Pidge and Hunk looked away in guilt. Keith was quietly eating his meal, his eyes still fixated on Lance. The blue paladin quickly caught Keith watching him. 

“Is there something on my face?”

“Uh!?” Keith choked on his food. Downing water to help recover, Lance gave the red paladin a strange look. 

“What did you ask?”

“Is there something on my face? You've been staring at me for a while now. Or am I just too handsome for you to resist.” Lance winked.

Keith smirked. “More like I was imagining what it would be like if you have paper bag on your head. You'd look so much better.”

Hunk bursted out with laughters. “He got you there Lance!”

“Well if you wanna be like that… ” Lance looked at his food and smirked. “I think you would look amazing with this on your face.”

Lance grabbed Hunk’s food and threw it at Keith. The red paladin turned his neck to the side slightly, dodging the food.

“It's so on!” Keith smiled and threw his food and hit Lance. Lance wiped off Hunk’s signature space mash potato and grabbed Pidge’s food, potato salad with peas and some ribs, the blue paladin threw it right back at Keith. The two went back and forth, trying to hit each other. Hunk, worried about his food, ran around trying to catch whatever he can and save his precious creations. “STOP!!” Keith and Lance stopped and looked at the angry yellow paladin.

“My hard work… my beloved food. You will pay for this.” Hunk grabbed two masses of food and gave both paladins the death stare. “Pidge lend me a hand?

“Dude, heck no-” Pidge hid under the table for cover, trying to protect her laptop. 

“Teaming up?! Fine then if you wanna play that way!”, Lance yelled and threw the cake in the middle of the table, missing Hunk and directly hitting Pidge. Annoyed, the green paladin looked at Hunk and wiped off cake frosting on her face. She took off her glasses. “That’s it! Hunk let's do this.”

The paladins duked it out. Keith and Lance formed a truce and teamed up against Pidge and Hunk. Allura and Coran, sitting in the field of war, the Alteans were annoyed with the warriors in front of them.

Allura tried to take sense back in the warriors.“Paladins, we should not be-”  

One of the food goo hit Allura. Coran in the back , shocked. Allura wiped off the goo. “Coran.. let's get them”

“With pleasure Princess.” Coran smiles and rolled up his sleeves.  “Prepare for a world of hurt with my special Coran moves!!”

The crew fought it out. Everyone was enjoying themselves, forgetting all their past worries. Out of breath, everyone fell down at the messy floor, and laughed. They all helped each other up and looked at the mess they made. Turning away from the mess, they all looked at each other and all thought of the same thing.  _ Shiro. _ They all stood in silence, reminiscing their memories. A loud clap came from the corner, Lance.

“Guys, we can do this and when we get Shiro back. We'll make him proud”

“You're right!” Allura gave a determined smile to the paladin, inspiring them. “Paladins, let's go!!...” She paused, looked around the room, and gave a sigh. “After we clean up this mess.”

“Awww” complained the paladins. “Can't we just make Coran clean it up?”

“Absolutely not! We are doing this together.” Allura commanded.

* * *

 

“Ok...” The Paladins walked to their lions after cleaning up their mess, Lance and Keith moved down the hall together, quietly enjoying the silence. Lance noticed Keith was playing with the back of his hair.

“Hey you nervous? Did you sleep ok?” Lance said, breaking the silence.

“Uh?!” Keith jumped. “Yeah I haven't gotten a dream yet”

“Not what I was asking, but that's good!” Lance smiled. “You think you're going to be alright? I know things can be tough for you without Shiro.”

Keith slowed down on tracks. “Honestly I'm petrified, scared even.” Keith sighed and smiled. “Shiro’s reassurance helped you know but I feel okay”

Lance smiled. “Hey you fought a weblum before, it's not that bad. Not to mention, you've got me this time! You know you can depend on me.”

“As if I can.” Keith chuckled. “Though being with you do comfort me a bit more than if it was just alone.” Keith felt himself lightening up, slightly embarrassed from his words. Lance glanced over to catch a look of Keith's laughing face, noticing it was flushed.

“Hey, are you feeling feverish?” Lance questioned in concern, stopping in his tracks. Keith stopped and looked at his teammate suspiciously when the blue paladin placed his forehead on his. Keith, stunned and shocked, stared at Lance in confusion.  _ He has such damn blue eyes. _ Regaining consciousness, Keith head butted Lance.

“Hey what the heckles man.” Lance rubbed his forehead in pain. “What was that for?”

“You suddenly attacked me!!”

“What do you mean?! You were the one who attacked me! I was checking if you have a fever.”

“Well… I don't have one! So don't  do that… ” Keith raised his voice and turned his head away.  _ Why did that make me happy. _ Unbeknownst to Keith, his cheeks showed a light pink hue.

“Ok! Jeez. Sorry for worrying”

Awkwardly turning away from each other, the two ziplined down to their lions after meeting up with the rest of the crew and said their goodbyes. Keith and Lance blasted to space, they followed the coordinates set out by Coran and drove. After a couple light years of jump, the two reached their destination. The two discovered hundreds and hundreds of weblums, spread out and scattered in between asteroids, waiting for their mate. 

“Woah there are so many of them, and we found them pretty quickly too. Coran really did his homework.” Keith said, impressed at the view.

“Well I mean…  they are trying to get laid.” Lance turned on his communication camera and wiggled his eyebrows. Keith tried to counter back with a witty comeback but admitted Lance was right. The paladins spied on the weblums, hoping one would isolate itself. In the corner of Keith’s eye, he spotted two weblums alone together. 

“Let's go for those ones.” Keith pointing at the weblums at the corner.

“What?! But there's two of them!?”

“We'll be fine. Plus do you the hundreds of them? They're all packed together.”

“Bleh”, Lance sighed. “So how do we get the scaultrite?”

“Well when Hunk and I were doing this, one of us will have to be out and activate its  defense by attacking it while the other has to stay inside and collects the scaultrite”

“Alright, I call distracting it.”

“What?! No I am not going back into that thing.”

“Fine, then we rock, paper, scissors for it”

“Bring it Lance.”

“Put you hands in front of the camera so I know you aren't cheating.”

“Really? You’re this serious about it? Fine.” Keith put his hand in front of the camera. Watching the blue paladin,  they both started the motions.

“Rock...” Time seems to slowed down around the two paladins. The tensions were high, they both know the stakes at hand. The paladins put all their senses into their eyes, checking the other's hand.

“Paper...” Lance carefully picked his move as he countdown.  _ I know Keith won't pick paper. Seeing as he’s an aggressive person, he would for rock naturally but knowing Keith usual pattern he'd pick scissors.  But rock has always been my trump card. Wait, Keith has known my pattern for at least a year. He's always watching me and Hunk battle for Pidge’s leftovers. So with the element of surprise, I'll use my wild card! _

“Scissors...”  _ Damn Lance is too much of an unpredictable ass to read. I can't tell what he would choose but watching him play this game with Hunk and Pidge for leftover food so many time. His number one choice is always rock. But what if he wants me to think that and has a trump card up his sleeves.  _

At that single moment their fates were decided. They both knew, that this is the fight that'll decide their lives. The two have watched each other played for years, learnt each other's strategies and patterns. Their eyes met, arms weak, palms are sweaty, and the paladins picked their choice. Lance spread out, forming paper, predicting Keith's fist. But all hopes drained from the blue paladin’s eyes as he saw Keith's hand. Keith's hand formed scissors. 

“ Hell Yeah!” Keith cheered.

“Best 2/3?” Lance said, smiling nervously.

“Haha, no. Go get your gear loser.” Keith played with his bangs in victory. Lance pouted grumpily and both paladins landed on top of one of the weblums. Lance cautiously walked inside a small opening and was sucked into the beast.

“Ahhh”

“Lance!!” Keith yelled.

“ Just kidding” Lance laughed and looked around in the new area. “So, how do I navigate this place?” 

“Coran gave us the anatomy of the weblum, it's said here that we need to start going to its stomach.”

“Okay and-” static noises started to build in the paladin coms.

“Lance? You're cutting off.” 

“Keith? Can you hear me?” More and more static built up, covering Lance's words.  

“Lance be careful for the -?!” 

“Keith help! I'm getting sucked-”

The paladins’ telecom cut them both off, Keith is left alone, he sighed in hopes that his teammate would come back and not agitate the weblum somehow. While he waited, Keith distracted himself with the floating debris and rocks in space. Bored out of his mind, he counted the amount of asteroids floating around when in corner of his eye he spotted a small ship. _Huh, who are those people?_ Keith took his lion to hide behind an asteroid, and peeked at the unidentified ship. The red paladin noticed the purple streak running through. _A Galra ship?! What are they doing over here? Shiro!_ Keith, pumped with confusion, anger, focused only on the Galra ship. _You, you took Shiro away from me._ Clenching his fist onto Red’s control, he made his decision.

“Red, let's go after them.” Keith, about to rush towards the galra ship, was interrupted by a communication crackle. 

“Keiiiiiiiiiiith!!! Oh thank god this thing is finally working.” Lance cried. “I'm at the scaultrite place area or whatever. Now what do I do?!”

“Sorry Lance but important business came.” Keith watched the Galra ship scanning the area.

“Wait what do you mean?! What's more important than me?!” Lance shrieked, confused at what Keith’s doing. “Don’t leave me here! Tell me what to do.”

“No Lance, handle yourself for a bit I’ll be right back.”

“Wait Kei-”. Keith turned off his telecom, cutting off Lance. _You stubborn idiot, what are you doing?_ Lance gritted his teeth and looked at Coran’s instructions, trying to finish the job as fast as possible. Keith, going full speed at the Galra ship, got spotted immediately. The ship started to shoot at the red lion. _Hmph, nothing I can’t handle._ Keith easily evaded the Galra’s shots, but the shots hits the weblums instead. The damage caused the weblums to wake up, and cried out for help. Other weblums, realizing a threat was near, all charged up and got ready to shoot back. _Fuck_.  Keith closed his distance to the Galra ship, and parked the lion behind an asteroid. The red paladin activated the red lion's protective barrier and got off. Keith jetpacked torwards the Galra ship, he knew he had five minutes before the weblums shot its lasers. _I will get a lead on finding Shiro! He must be close._

Keith reached the ship and found his way inside. He was immediately confronted by enemy robotic troops. Keith hid in the ducts and made his way torwards the front control room _. _ The control room were guarded by a few guards, the red paladins got the drop from the ceiling, knocking out both out and made his way inside. The room consist of a small control panel, a wide window for piloting, and the power core for the ship. Keith browse the ship’s infos and try to find any hints on where Shiro can be, nothing.  _ Where could they have kept him?  _ Keith slammed his head on the controls out of frustration.  _ Of course it's not that easy.  _ Lifting his head,  Keith setted the ship to self- destruct. Alarms started blaring and the panicked Galras ran to their safety pod. Keith snuck out and ran to the ship's entrance. The red paladin got his jetpack and flew out. He got discovered by the escaping Galras and they took shots at him. One of the shot hit Keith in the arm, and another pierced the jetpack, rendering it useless.  

“Argh!” Keith grabbed his arm and tried to stop the bleeding. Falling down, the red lion caught the red paladin. Keith got inside and turned on his telecoms.

* * *

 

“Stupid Keith leaving me alone to do this job. Hey just when I thought we were getting along. He just ups and goes like tha-” Lance shook his head and finished packing all of the scaultrite and chained the bags together. “God that took forever. Alright now, how the heckles do I get out of here? Hunk said it was an interesting journey out.”

Lance looked around and noticed the weblum opening its hole and cracked a smile. “Nice,  I'm getting farted out.”

The blue paladin stuffed the scaultrite to the opening and got ready for the push out. Lance heard his telecom turn on as he got grandiosely farted out. Stuffing the scaultrite into the blue lion, Lance got into it and heard Keith's voice.

“Lance…”, Keith quietly groaned in pain. _ What does he want?  _ Unable to hear Keith's pain,  Lance piloted his blue lion, feeling betrayed.

“Hey man, nice of you to drop by after leaving me on my own, lost and clueless on what to do.” Lance complained. No response came from Keith. “Oh you’re feeling guilty now? Well you better because I just did a two man job by myself!”

Still, no response came from Keith. Lance started to get worried about his partner. 

“Hey Keith? You there? Where are you?” Lance flew around the asteroids, trying to regroup the red lion.

“...”

“Keith!? Are you alright?”. Lance panicked,  _ Keith, where are you? Did you disappear to.  _ Searching in the sea of debris, Lance found the red lion behind a faraway asteroid, floating lifeless in space. The blue lion grabbed the red lion and got them both to a safe planet. Lance crashed down and trees softened the crash, red lion in Blue’s mouth. Lance got out of Blue, tossing his helmet to the side, and tripped on a tree root.  _ Keith.  _ Scraping his knees and injuring his arm, Lance persisted to the red lion's door and knocked on it rapidly.  _ You do not get to die. _ The blue paladin bashed his body on the red lion door and to no avail, nothing happened. Bruises started to form on his shoulder as Lance continued to slam himself on the red lion's door. _ Come on. Just open up.  _  Lance panted and looked at the red lion, leaned on it.

“Please open up. Let me help him. Let me see him”. Lance’s started to tear up, drops fell down his face.  _ Please I can't let you go. “ _ Keith, I'm sorry. ”

* * *

 

Keith opened his eyes.  _ Uhh where am I?  _ Touching his head, blood was still flowing out of him.  _ Everything’s still blurry _ . Keith turned to his side and heard someone banging on Red’s door.

“Sorry… ”. _Lance?_ Keith toppled his way to the door and supported himself on the lion's wall as he held on his injured arm. A high pitch ringing pulsed through Keith's head. _Argh fucking hell._ The red paladin felt himself losing consciousness. _No I won't end it like this._ With his last amount of strength, Keith punched the button to opening the door. _Lance._ Keith fell and felt someone catching him, falling out of consciousness. Lance held onto the Keith, embracing him tightly as the red paladin blacked out.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

“Keith!” a faint faraway voice called out.

“KEITH!” The voice boomed and Keith shot up from his mattress. _What happened!?_ The black-haired boy stared around, he was back at his room. _I'm here again._ Keith shook his head and snapped out of his daydreaming. He was back at his old apartment complex, Lance stood next to him, and gave him a strange look.  

“Hey are you ok?” Lance looked at Keith with concern.

“Uh oh uh, yeah. I think?” Keith replied in confusion.

“Good, cause this time I'm going to cream you in Brawl.” A smile formed on Lance and he returned to his happy-go-lucky self.

“Try me!” Keith stood up, infected by Lance enthusiasm, and grabbed his lucky red controller.

Keith and Lance load up their game on the Mercury Game Flux, and started their fight. They both concentrated on the game, so much so that the only noises heard in the room were the buttons being slammed as the boys fought each other. Occasionally Lance would set his controller down, step outside into the balcony to get some fresh air and contemplate his life, while Keith would calm himself down and prepared for the next battle. The boys played brawl for a couple of hours, Keith has beaten Lance multiple times, and ended up giving Lance a win so he can be happy. Lance bragged about it for one whole hour, Keith didn’t think it'll ever stop. The sun shone its rays down on the boys as they laid in front of a fan. The soft ocean breeze blew on Keith's small wind chime.

“Hey, how come you've been coming over a lot lately?” Keith turned to his sides, looking at Lance.

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“Like, do you like being around me?”

“Noo, I come over just to play video games and raid your fridge.” Lance sprawled out onto the floor. _I guess that's half the truth_ , Lance looked at Keith.

“You're only here for the food!?” Keith gave a distressed look. “Well I only have takeouts, I hope you're fine with that.”

_Does this kid not read sarcasm?_ Lance laughed to himself.

“I like take out and yes, please feed me. I always appreciate free food.” Lance stuck out his tongue playfully. Keith finally loaded the sarcasm Lance gave and punched the Cuban lightly.

“Come on, be serious with me. Why do you like to spend time with me? I'm kind of boring and I live in a world of awkward silence.”

“Dude if you continue to talk like that you'll never get a date…. ”

“What do you mean?!”

“You're hot-headed, competitive, stubborn... man I can go on. This stuff ain't helping you with the ladies.”

“Who said anything about girls?! You know what? Pretend I never asked.” . Keith crossed his arms, embarrassed.

“But when I'm with you, your ‘flaws,’ I find them charming. You care for me and Hunk, you're there to listen to me, and your flaws are what made you who you are. I like you.” Lance looked at his neighbor and sweetly smiled at him and keiths head shot up his head, his eyes sparkling. Flinching and turning away, Lance tried to hide his rosy cheeks. “Hey don't misunderstand my words. I like you as a friend!”

“I like you, too.” Keith stared at Lance's back and averted his eyes away, feeling out of breathe as his cheeks burned. A smile appeared on his face, and Keith lie down on the floor. _My first friend._ He smiled.

Lance glanced over his shoulder to catch a glimpse of Keith, he melted as he watched Keith slowly fell asleep. Lance listened to Keith’s quiet snores, then he reached out his hand and ruffled Keith's hair. _I like you, huh?_ Lance smiled, got up and carried Keith to his couch. _Oh my god, he's heavier than he looks._ Lance tucked Keith into his blanket, made himself comfortable on the floor, and fell asleep.

* * *

Keith opened his eyes, his body still ached from the recent wound. The first thing in front of him was Lance's feet. _Ugh god damn it Lance! How do you even manage that in your sleep._ Keith moved Lance's feet off of his face and sat up. Rubbing his head, Keith felt a bandage on his head and noticed his arm was wrapped and he was changed to his usual grey v-neck and black pants. _I screwed up big time._ Looking around, Keith saw a deep forest covered in tall trees and leaves blocking the sunlight. The red paladin looked down and noticed his jacket and Lance’s jacket were on him. _He gave me his jacket?_ Keith glanced over and Lance was sleeping comfortably, spreading his arms and legs everywhere. _How does he even sleep like that?_ A sudden punch came out of Lance, straight towards Keith's face. “Take that Zarkon!”

The red paladin barely blocked the hit, while the blue just rolls around and continue his slumber, drooling on the dirt ground. _What the hell?_ Keith looked at the hand that nearly punched him and noticed all the bandaid on Lance's hand _. You gotta work on those stitches skills._ Keith smiled. Curiously Keith opened his hands and Lance's compared their hand size and slowly interlaced them.

“You're the one who works hard here.” Keith whispered softly and lightly tighten his hold on the blue paladin. _I should probably replace his bandages._ Keith picked up the first aid kit inside his lion and began to change Lance's bandages. Wrapping the cloth carefully onto each space between Lance’s finger, Keith's finger felted the palms of his teammate. His palms were cracked but were softer when Keith initially felted. Less bruises were found on Lance, and Keith gave a final wrap and snipped the bandage ends. Finishing up with Lance’s arm, Keith went to check to see if the lions were working. An hour passed by and Lance woke up from his slumber and saw Keith standing in front of the red lion, staring into space.

“Hey Keith” Lance yawned and stretched himself. Keith shuddered and looked back at Lance.

“You finally up? Sleeping in as always huh?”

“Yeaaa whatever man, no reason to wake up early.” Lance walked over to him and looked at what Keith was doing and rested his chin on Keith's shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“I’m checking to see if our lions will work, by the looks of it we'll have to fix them but it's nothing too bad.” Keith explained. “The Garrison at least taught us basic engineering skills”

“I see, says the drop-out”. Lance chuckled and got off of Keith and looked at his arm. “You patched me up?”

“Yeah. Is it not up to your standards?”

“No, it's perfect.” Lance grinned. The blue paladin looked around the scenery they were stuck in. Animal cries echoed through the thick, dense forest as the humid air surrounded the paladins. Lance's nose twitched, smelling a familiar scent. _The ocean._ The paladins starts to gather up materials around, clearing the area and get ready for camp. Midway through, Lance noticed out of the corner of his eyes a strange looking nest. “Hey Keith, I'm gonna go explo- I mean go get food for us, you stay here and fix the lions.”

“Wait you can't leave me alon-” Keith turned around and Lance was gone. _When the world needed him most, he disappeared huh._ A couple minute passed and Keith finally got his fire started when he heard something.

“Keiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiith!” a faint voice cried out. _Uh? What was that?_ Keith got up and looked around for a bit, then ignored the sound. _Probably just in my head._

“Keiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiith!!” The voice got louder and Keith got on his feet and gripped his galra knife. In the distance he saw Lance running towards him. _Is that Lance? What the hell is he doing?_ Keith heard some faint buzzing sounds.

“Keiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiith, ruuuuuun!!” Lance cried. Keith watched and noticed a huge swarm of bugs following Lance. Scanning the mysterious insect, its features were : black abdomen, thin wings, distinct red eyes, sharp stinger, a large sucker and a buzzing sound replicating a tiger. Realizing the situation, Keith’s legs slowly pivoted and began running for his life. _Are those fucking Mosquito-Hornets!?._

“What the hell did you do?!?!” Keith yelled and started running with Lance, thrashing through the lush forest.

“I thought I could get some honey by blowing get on the nest BUT CLEARLY I was wrong!! TVs man nothing is true anymore.”

“You idiot, those are Mosquito-Hornets not fucking bees.” Keith ducked under a tree trunk and continued to run. “Also you blow smoke at them, not kiss the air towards them!”

“Oh… Thats why they had a torch! Thanks I'll keep that in mind for next time.”. Lance jumped over a tree root.

“There will be no fucking next time!!”. Running and running, their breaths were slowly decreasing. Keith's legs were giving in and Lance couldn't catch air when hope was found. The paladins ran and saw a bright shining light shine through the forest. _That must be the way out, please let it be the way out._ The paladins ran to the light and revealed the blue ocean. Crashing onto the sharp rocks in the distances, the waves were merciless, and sent it thunderous claps to anyone who dared swim inside.

“Are you kidding me?!” Keith cried and his knees gave away, kneeling to the ocean in defeat. The buzzing noises became more and more evident. “Fuck it, We've got to get to the water!”

“What, Why!?”

“Would you rather die slowly by being stung to death and your blood sucked or die quickly by who knows out there?”

“But you can't swim?”

“Just go stop talking!”

“Fine.” The paladins started to run towards the ocean and the Mosquito-Hornets found the teammates and lashed their small fangs out as they have found their dinner. Keith ran as fast as he can towards the water, hesitant to jump in. _Are you fucking kidding me, I gotta swim! Oh well it shouldn’t be that deep at first, I can stand in shallow water._ The red paladin took a step into the water and immediately learn that there are no shallow water, just an instant 12-foot drop. _Fan-Fucking-Tastic._ Keith held his breath as he sank deeper and deeper, tried to flap his arms as much as he can, but he kept on sinking. _Why the hell is it so deep!? What kind of ocean have this deep of a drop right away!?_ Meanwhile Lance jump straight down the water and easily swam up, this was just like a pool to him. Lance reach above the water and saw the Mosquito-Hornets gave up on the chase and flew away.

“YEAH! We escaped death!!”. Lance happily splashed in the water. “Take that stinkin’ bugs!”

Treading the water, Lance looked around, but Keith was nowhere to be found. _Uh Keith?_. Lance panicked and saw a red jacket floated up from the water. _Isn’t that Keith’s jacket?_  The blue paladin swam over and got the jacket, but Keith was not there. _He's not dead yet!_ Taking a deep breathe, the blue paladin dove back down the water, trying to find his partner. Opening his eyes, there was only navy darkness. Sunlight shone down on the husk ocean, creating a small path of light. There Keith was, floating lifeless, unconscious. Paddling his arms and legs, Lance put Keith’s arms over him and made a break to the surface as he held onto Keith’s arm. Breaking the surface tension of the crystal blue water, Lance plopped down Keith on the sand, gasping for air. Panicked, Lance pressed his head on Keith's chest. Closing his eyes and listening, Lance heard a faint heartbeat. His eyes widened and his hands immediately placed onto Keith's chest. Lance repeated the motions for CPR, applying pressure when needed. _3...2...1...come on Keith._ Water choked his throat. His noses felt a burning pain from the salt. At that moment, Keith coughed out water and gasped for air. _!!! What happened to me?_ Keith thought to himself as turned to look at Lance with his bloodshot eyes, still coughing out the remaining water. _You piece of shit._ Just as he was about to speak, Lance put his index finger on Keith's lips.

“Shh, don’t worry, I know exactly what you're going to say, you don’t even gotta say it.” Lance smiled and raise his eyebrows with swagger. “You're welcome!”

Keith looked at Lance with rage and his eyes wide opened in disbelief. _This fucking bitch nearly got me killed and he decides to be a hero about it!?_

“Hey Keith you there?” Lance looked smug. Keith said nothing.

“Uh Keith??” Lance asked again. Keith said nothing and squinted his eyes.

“Keit-” Lance asked but was interrupted by Keith screaming at the top of his broken lungs.

“OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD WHY AM I STUCK IN THIS FUCKING PLANET WITH YOU!? AND HELL NO YOU DON’T GET TO SAY YOU'RE WELCOME. THIS IS YOUR OWN DAMN FAULT AND YOU DRAGGED ME INTO THIS  SHIT. WHO THE HELL DECIDES, ‘OH HEY I WANT SOME FUCKING HONEY, FROM A FUCKING CREATURE THAT LOOKS LIKE IT CAME OUT OF SATAN'S LEFT ASS CHEEK!!” Keith was panting out of sheer anger and contemplated  if Lance was worth any energy to give a bitch slap of the century.  At this point, Keith was incoherently screaming. Lance stood there watching his partner rant.

“Ok.” Lance shrugged. Keith looked at Lance with annoyance and could feel gray hairs forming.

“What do you mean ok?” Keith clenched his fist.

“Dude, don't worry about it. I am one with nature now. With me by your side, you have nothing to worry about”. Lance took off his shirt and tied it on his head like a bandana and rubbed mud on his face. “I. Am. Nature Man.”

“You are un-fucking-believable.” Keith scoffed. “I'm going back to camp, and this time I'm going to leave your ass here for dead.”

“You sure? Those Mosquito-Hornets are probably still hungry and waiting for a meal.” Lance noted. Keith, a boiling anger was forming inside him, drew a line on the sand between him and Lance using his finger.

“You stay on your side, and don't talk to me, don’t come over to me, don’t even look at me!”

“Keith, come on we escaped death before.” Lance whined only for Keith to ignore him. Keith sat down on the soft sand and looked out into the ocean. _I hate the ocean._ Looking out into the sky, Keith's eyes focused on the horizon _, the place where the sky and the ocean meet. Why can't the world be all land._ In the corner of his eye, he saw Lance swimming out into the sea. Huh, _butterfly swimmer._ Clenching onto the sand, Keith sifted through the grainy substance. The sun began to set, turning the radiant blue sky to a light pink mixed with orange color, Lance came back to land as Keith finished building an elaborate sand castle.

“You ready to go back?” Lance asked, still dripping wet from the swim.

“Fine.” Keith sneered at Lance and the two began to walk back to their camp. Keith dropped by to check on the lions, finding if there was any hope to escape Lance _. Looks like it’ll take another night of fixing to get them all ready up. Shiro why are you testing me._

_“_ Hey Keith, we still don't got any food,” Lance said. “I’m going to go out and try get some food again.”

“HELL NO! you're not going anywhere again.” Keith angrily yelled. “Go check on the lions”

“What? Whyyyyy.” Lance cried.

“Why do you think!? You almost killed us. Now stay here and deal with the lions.” Keith commanded. The red paladin walked off into the forest, giving him time to recollect his thoughts and cool down. Taking a deep breath with each step, Keith trudged through the lush plants, and the thought of Lance popped into his mind and he remembered the times where he talked to Lance. _My dreams… this can’t all be a coincidence. He lived in San Diego, looks like the Lance in my dreams, and have almost identical annoying personality as the Lance here. His reactions and his words, he knows things that even I don't know about myself. How did he know I can't swim. I can't call him out yet for now I'll see how things play out._ Keith roamed around for a while, but with no luck. _I guess there's no point on being mad this time._

“Hey Lance, I couldn't find anything out there.” Keith ducked down to avoid a hanging branch that was in his face. “Hopefully Hunk packed us something to eat, let’s check the lion.”

Keith looked up and Lance was nowhere to be found. _Oh god damn it, what did this idiot do again._ Before Keith went to look for Lance, he built a small tomb out of nearby pebbles. _Just in case,_ and proceed to searched around for the blue paladin. _He has to be around here somewhere, he may be an idiot, but he sure don’t die easily._ A rush of ocean breeze brushed towards Keith. _Of course, the sea… again._ Keith ran to the direction of the breeze and saw Lance sitting out in the beach, alone. Hesitant, the red paladin hid behind a tree. He rested his back against the tree and looked up at the starry night. _I want to go to him, but do I trust him?_

* * *

Lance watched the soft waves comes and goes. He dug his feet under the sand, and something pricked his feet. The blue paladin uncover the sand to find a nice seashell, with a smooth outside and beautiful coloring inside. _This would be a nice gift for him_ . The blue paladin sat in silence, staring at the shell, when he heard a rustle in the bushes. _What’s that noise?_ Lance peeked over his shoulder and saw a striking red jacket hidden poorly behind a tree. _Oh look a wild Keith. How do I make up to him? Hey Keith, sorry I nearly got us kill._ Lance scratched his head in confusion and turned around and made eye contact with Keith. The two looked each other in the eye and Keith started to walk out of his cover towards Lance. A couple minutes passed, and Lance’s mind started to panick. _He's probably still mad at me._ Lance ruffled his hair in frustration. _What can I do to make it up to him, why was I being dumb._ Lance gripped the seashell on his hand and stood up.. _I wanna make-up, I wanna see him._ Lance turned around and Keith was right in front the of him. Shocked, Lance took a step back.

“Oh, Keith! What are you doing here?” Lance pretended to gasp.

“Didn't I say to stay on your side of the line?” Keith frowned but turned to a smirk. Lance smiled back and listened to Keith and took a step back to his side. Both of them sat down on the sand looking out into the distance.

“You know, this place is beautiful.” Lance said out of nowhere as he observed the beach around.

“Yeah I guess so.”

“Yeah, beautiful like the beach back at home, but it's got nothing on the Veradero beach I had as a kid.” Lance cracked a smile. “Maybe I should take you guys there once we save the universe.”

Keith gazed at Lance, looking at him with melancholy in his eyes. _You're hurting inside, aren't you, You miss your family._ “Hey just like the ripples of the ocean, you'll always find your way back home to your family.”

“You're so metaphorically cheesy.”. Lance hid his smiling face. “You do know when to say the right thing”

“Shut up.” Keith rested his chin on the palm of his hand and smiled at the moonlight. Looking over at Lance, he still had a distorted look in his eyes. _Lance… I'm here._ Keith reaches out his arm and ran it through the blue paladin’s chestnut hair. Suddenly petting Lance's locks of hair, he jumped slightly, scared and nervous, but accepted Keith's gesture and closed his eyes and leaned on Keith. “When we go back to Earth, show me why it's beautiful, let me see what I have missed out on.”

“Of course.” Lance lifted his head and pressed his shoulder onto Keith’s. The two sat in silence, only echoes of the oceans crashing onto the rocks. Sneakingly catching looks at Lance, Keith feel his heart beating rapidly. Taking deep breathes, he tried to calm himself down. _Why am I wasting adrenaline._ Lance noticed Keith watching him, smuggly smiling to himself,and tried to hide his rosy cheeks and ears. The moon reflected on the ocean along with the stars. Lance slowly stood up and looked forward at the horizon.

“Let's start heading back, it’s getting late.” Lance put his hand into his pocket reached to Keith with the other _. He looks so beautiful under the night sky._ Keith admired and stared at Lance, standing tall with the moon and stars. Keith took Lance’s hand and supported himself up. Lance leaded the way back to camp and Keith followed him. Noticing Lance's ears were red, Keith couldn't help but feel his was doing the same.

* * *

 

Back at camp, Lance prepared sleeping bags for the them. Keith worked some more on the lion while occasionally glanced at his partner. Lance shivered from the cold and rubbed his hands together in hopes of some warmth by the fire. Keith looked at his own jacket, which was drying next to the fire pit, and remembered Lance giving him his jacket that morning. Picking up his coat, Keith shoved it in front of Lance.

“What’s this about?” Lance looked at Keith with suspicions, raising his eyebrow.

“You used your jacket as a blanket for me,” Keith said shyly and shifted his eyes to avoid Lance’s. “It’s not like I’m sacrificing my warmth for you or anything, it’s just hot here with the welding torch. So take it!”

“T-Thanks.” Lance took Keith’s jacket, still warm, and hold it tight.

Lance put on the jacket and went to warm up by the fire, then passed out from exhaustion. Keith looked at his partner sleeping cozily, then continued his work.

* * *

 

“Hey wake up! Lance!” A voice shouted. Lance open his eyes to see Keith shaking him.

“Just five more minutes please” Lance yawned and rolled over to continue his beauty sleep, but immediately got interrupted by a splash of cold salt water.

“Wake up. The lions are finished, we’re getting out of here.” Keith slapped Lance awake. “I already called Hunk and Pidge, they’re meeting us halfway between here and castle to take us home.”

“Alright but this planet though, when’s the next time you’re going to see a beach like this?” Lance's cloudy, clear eyes gazed into the ocean that had its secrets.

“You mean the damn planet with freaking mosquitoes hornet nests and 16-foot drop from the beach?” Keith grunted, reminiscing the crazy battle. “I’m done with this place”

“Hey, if anything happens, I’ll just rescue you again.” Lance winked.

Keith sighed and started to walk into his lion, Lance followed into his own. When Lance was at the door, he heard a voice called out to him.

“Catch!”

Lance felt something hard in the back of his head, he turned around, flailing his arms and caught the object thrown at him. Opening his palm, a broken seashell was revealed. It was a simple white shell with an undertone of lavender and chipped at the edge. Looking down from the steps of his lion, Keith had his hand cover his cheeks.

“I picked it up at the beach this morning, before you woke up.” Keith said quietly, feeling a bit of a thumping in his chest. “Even though it's broken, I hope it somewhat reminds you of home.”

“Thanks.” Lance sighed, drooping his head down and smiled at the red paladin. “You totally stole my idea.”

“What do you mean?” Keith questioned and lifted his head. Lance trailed his way over to Keith.

“Open up your hand.”

“Ok…!?” Keith listened and Lance put an item onto his palm. Looking down on his hand, a small spiral seashell was planted on him. It was orange with brown spots and red streaks as undertone. “It's nice!”

“Right? it reminded me of you” Lance grinned, a pink shade appeared on his ears. “ I wanna make a promise with you.”

“What promise?”

“Like I mean I want to take you to the Veradero beach when we get back. I'll show you what you have missed. That's my promise to you.” Lance said and smiled.

“I see… then I want to make a promise with you as well”

“Are you copying me? I mean, first the shell and now this?”

“Yeah I am. Problem?” Keith smirked. “I promise to take you back to your family, no matter what.”

Lance went quiet, his eyes filled up with tears and he tried to hold them back, leaving Keith shocked.

“Hey, you don't have to cr-” Keith tried to comfort Lance but was interrupted by a tight hug. Burying his head on Keith's shoulder, Lance wrapped his hands around Keith's waist. Keith, stunned, smiled and hugged the blue paladin, petting his soft, brown hair. Keith’s chest started to beat faster, his body warming up. _This feeling again._ Lance held onto Keith tighter, he felt as if butterflies were in his stomach. The rhythm of his heart played loudly against his chest. _Wait, no, stop._ The blue paladin quickly released Keith from his arms.

“Hey we shouldn't keep Pidge and Hunk waiting.” Lance said nervously, flustered. _I can't keep doing this to myself._

“Uh okay.” Keith pouted, holding his seashell tightly. Both paladin walked slowly to their lions, admired their shells before take off. The lions have fully recovered, the paladins powered up and hyper jumped out off the forest. The two flew out of the planet’s atmosphere back into space. Keith checked the coordinates to meet Pidge and Hunk, Lance followed and the two went full speed through the asteroids, evading them as they go. The duo got to the meeting point first and waited around. Floating around in boredom, Lance and Keith tried to find new tricks on their lions.

“What’s taking them so long?” Lance complained and looked around for signs of his team, impatient as usual. “Wait there's their ship. Pidge! Hunk! Over heree!” Lance yelled and fly towards a ship faraway.

“Wait, why would they use a ship?” Keith questioned, zooming in on the ship. As the ship gets closer, it became more apparent. The purple streak across the ship along with the turrets is an unmistakable trait. “GALRAS!” Keith yelled. The Galra ship was huge, and very well armed. It immediately  detected the two lion and sounded the alarm. The ship went full throttle towards the paladins, turrets aimed straight at the lions.

“Lance, you contact Pidge and Hunk,” Keith panicked. “I'll try my best to distract them!”

“Ok!” Lance quickly turned on his coms and left a message for Hunk and Pidge. “Hunk! Pidge! Galra ships are here, come as fast as possible!”

“Wait?! What?! Lance?!How did you guys even get caught?”, Hunk yelled.

“Keith and his temper! But that's besides the point. We’re at the halfway point, come support us ASAP.” Lance turned his lion back, and accelerated away from the Galra ship.

“Get ready to use your turbo!” Keith commanded, noticing how the Galra ship was gaining on them.

The strays of the lasers aimed towards both of the paladins. Keith was effortlessly able to thread his way around, evaded each shot made at him, and sped through the storm of lasers. Lance was having a harder time evading the endless rain of shots. Slowing down, the blue paladin tried to escape but the blue lion got hit, its back exploded. Lance can feel his chamber violently shaking, it was a bad hit, but the lion could still maneuver its way around.

“You alright Lance? Keith asked, swiftly evading around the shots.

“Yea I’m fine, we can get it fix later, let's get the hell out of here first!”

“We should split up, make the shots more spread out and we can meet up later.”

“Good idea, let's turbo out of here.”

Keith pressed his turbo and accelerated, moving quickly away from the ship. Lance slammed the turbo button, but nothing happened.

“Crap!”

“Lance? What happened?”

“They broke my turbo tank!” Lance panicked, and another shot hit the blue lion leg, disbalancing the blue lion. “I’m going down, Keith leave me!”

The Galra ship caught up to Lance, and immediately netted him, capturing the blue lion along with the paladin inside. Keith heard the broadcast from the Galra ship.

“ **RED PALADIN, SURRENDER YOURSELF AND YOUR LION IF YOU WANT YOUR LITTLE FRIEND HERE TO LEAVE”**

_God damnit. I have to go back or Lance will die. I can't lose him too!_ Keith circled back with his lion, surrendering himself. The lions got suppressed and sealed in the Galra ship, while both paladins got captured and put into a cell, waiting to be executed.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
